


Nights Like These

by DizzyTango



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Angst, Blood Drinking, Blood and Violence, Fluff and Humor, Hoseok's thighs, Human/Vampire Relationship, M/M, Mentions of homophobia, Minor Character Death, Minor Violence, Mutual Pining, Non-Consensual Blood Drinking, Rating May Change, Reincarnation, Slow Burn, Supernatural Elements, Tags Are Hard, Texting, Vampire!Changkyun, Vampire!Jooheon, Vampire!wonho, but mostly prose, human!kihyun, just some texting, vampire!Hyunwoo, vampire!hyungwon, vampire!minhyuk
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-01
Updated: 2019-02-21
Packaged: 2019-09-02 21:54:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 28,095
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16795492
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DizzyTango/pseuds/DizzyTango
Summary: In which Vampire Hoseok is the mentor of fledgling vampire Changkyun and stops him from killing Kihyun.Then hits on him.Things escalate from there and suddenly Kihyun finds himself entangled in a world he never anticipated being a part of in the first place.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I've always wanted to write a vampire AU.
> 
> It begins cute and fluffy... but beware.

Yoo Kihyun has always been wary of darkness.  
  
It’s not that anything had happened to make him that way, but more just the general concept of endless shadow and the _idea_ of what could be lurking there.  
  
And for the first twenty-five years of his life, he had had no night-related problems, was finally chalking up all of those scary movie tropes as being just that: _tropes_.  
  
That was, until they weren’t.  
  
  
“I- Oh my god. Oh- Oh _shit_ , Changkyun, _no_!”  
  
Kihyun has barely a moment to look up, eyebrow raising quizzically before he suddenly finds himself being shoved backwards, breath rushing from his lungs the second his back collides with the glass pane of the bus stop behind him. He feels the pane crack beneath his spine. The papers in his arms go flying, a blossom of white that catches the dim streetlight above his head and he numbly wonders what the hell hit him and why it feels so much like a truck. When he opens his eyes, managing a sputtering cough that he is _sure_ brings up blood, he finds not a truck, but a man. A man about his age if not younger.  
  
A man with death in his eyes.  
  
The man has his forearm pressing roughly into Kihyun’s neck and leans forward, snarling, ferally gnashing _fangs_ in his face.  
  
_Fangs_?  
  
Kihyun begins scrambling, trying to rip the arm away from his neck, wanting nothing more than to breathe again but he’s fighting a losing battle. The strength of the man holding him back is beyond anything human and paired with the glittering fangs, Kihyun’s mind goes to one place-  
  
_Vampire.  
  
_It’s not the realization of what he is that shocks him. Its the realization of how things come full-circle. And now one has him pressed at his neck at its mercy, its amber colored eyes gleaming inhumanly, hungrily as it lazily runs its tongue over the points of its fangs. It leans in, and takes a deep, long drag of his scent, head tilting to the side as his mind processes it. Then he smiles and Kihyun feels on the verge of both throwing up and passing out (hopefully not in that order.)  
  
(Or in _any_ order, for that matter.)  
  
He doesn’t have time for either.  
  
Two arms are suddenly under the vampire’s armpits, pulling him into a quick headlock and whoever it is yanks him away hard enough to not only send the vampire staggering, but _flying_ in another direction. He slams against the brick facade of a building, remains standing for a moment, then collapses into a heap, wheezing and grasping his arm. Upon closer examination, Kihyun can see his _ulna_ has broken grotesquely from his skin and the vampire is wheezing, cursing in agony.  
  
At that, Kihyun does throw up. Violently. Right onto the rich leather shoes of whoever just saved his life. His mind spins as he gasps for air, the oxygen flooding his system lighting up his brain, making him realize he’s in _agony._ He wouldn’t be surprised if he had broken a rib when he was forced against the bus stop and he can feel blood oozing down the back of his head from where he slammed it against the glass. He reels for a moment, head bobbing, trying to straighten and force his world into something static, stationary.  
  
His legs fall out from underneath him but he’s caught immediately, two arms catching him securely at his armpits, keeping him from a, hitting the ground too hard and b, landing in his own vomit.  
  
“You’re okay,” a voice says softly and Kihyun, in all of his concussed glory, wonders if there is even a voice at all, a person at all. Because the voice is so calm, melodic, and there’s something about him that makes him want to obey, wants to believe he’s okay.  
  
Which is when his mind snaps back to those vampire relations courses he’d been forced to take when Vampires had ‘surfaced’ as they had called it. Glamoring. The soft glow. The warmth. The desire to agree with whatever is being suggested.  
  
“Don’t you f-fucking try that on me,” Kihyun slurs because, hello: head wound. He tries to push the man away and is surprised when he immediately lets go, holding up his hands like he means no harm.  
  
Kihyun, of course, immediately hits the pavement and lets out a low moan. He becomes conscious of the fact that one of his knees has landed square in his own vomit and retches in his mouth.  
  
“I wasn’t glamoring you,” the man says and he sounds _amused_ and god that pisses Kihyun off. He was just fucking attacked, probably by this guy’s goddamn _friend_ , and he has the audacity to have a _sense of humor?  
  
_Kihyun finally looks up at him, eyes like fire, mouth ready to tear him a new one- and he immediately falls silent. He’s heard rumors and myths before that a vampire’s age can be told by their beauty. And if that holds true, Kihyun must be staring down the oldest damn vampire in Seoul, no, in all of Korea itself. He has sharp features but soft cheeks and even softer lips set in a pout that somehow also gives the aura of a small smirk. In his gaze there’s no darkness, no severity, no… killing instinct. If anything, his eyes seem to glimmer in amusement, an unexpected show of warmth, and Kihyun suddenly feels very self conscious in this man’s presence.  
  
That’s probably the concussion talking.  
  
And then the vampire is crouching down and every ounce of Kihyun’s self-preservation is screaming at him to move away, to force himself to his feet, to flee. But he doesn’t. And if that’s because he can’t or because he doesn’t want to… he’s not quite sure.  
  
“Couldn’t you t-tether that thing?” Kihyun finally manages to gasp, motioning to the moaning heap that is the vampire that had attacked him. He peers over, looks confused, his head tilts to the side and it’s _cute_. How the fuck is it _cute?  
  
_“Changkyun?,” he asks slowly, “... Changkyun is my mentee. Not my pet. He’s a fledgling and impulsive and… clearly missed my whole lecture on manners.”  
  
This last portion is clearly directed to the wounded heap of Changkyun and he just groans in response. Oddly that sets a broad grin on the man’s face in a ‘well that’s what you get’ kind of way.  
  
Then Changkyun is suddenly standing, cracking his arm back into place. Kihyun can see the way his skin immediately rushes forward, knitting itself back into place, leaving not as much as a scar.  
  
Kihyun groans, head spinning, and almost adds more to the puddle of vomit at his feet.  
  
Changkyun meanders over to the other two, popping his knee back into place as he walks, watching Kihyun with curiosity. The feral nature is a mere glint now, but it’s not gone. Kihyun’s not sure if that kind of nature ever could fade, that genetic urge to kill. Yet when he looks at the man crouched before him, sees his concerned face and apparently irritation with Changkyun… he doesn’t see anywhere near the same thing.  
  
“Changkyun, apologize,” Hoseok says sternly, almost fatherly and the fledgling frowns petulantly and Kihyun feels like his mind _has_ to be hallucinating this odd vampire family dynamic. After a moment Changkyun sighs, straightening his arms and cracking his elbows in a way that makes Kihyun feel queasy. He’s clearly checking out that he has full use of his joints again.  
  
“Sorry, I gues-” he begins, only for the elder vampire to shoot him a glare that, based on his reaction, clearly _actually hurts_ , “ _Ow! Hoseokie-hyung, okay!”  
  
_Changkyun takes a deep breath, composes himself. He squares his shoulders in a very proper way, seems to find his composure. Kihyun still feels like he’s being stared at more like dinner and less like a person but he’ll take what he can get.  
  
Silence.  
  
“I’m sorry I tried to eat your face,” Changkyun finally says with the utmost sincerity, hands clasped before him, and Kihyun feels all of the blood drain from his body.  
  
“My- M- My _face_?” he sputters, eyes wide and he is _horrified_ , no, _beyond horrified_ and it takes a few panicked moments to realize Changkyun is _laughing_ and for all the effort he’s trying to put into being the solemn role model, the elder, _Hoseok_ , is biting back a chuckle as well.  
  
“ _That_ has nothing to do with his vampirism and _everything_ to do with the fact that he’s just a little shit,” Hoseok manages to explain, still biting at his lower lip to keep his smile at bay.  
  
Changkyun merely shrugs, expression pleased, as if to say ‘ _yeah, that’s true’_.  
  
“I’m kidding! I was obviously aiming for your neck,” he says as if it helps.  
  
It doesn’t.  
  
Kihyun wonders how hard he hit his head when Changkyun shoved him against the bus stop. He wonders what level of brain damage he has. Suddenly very little makes sense. He realizes he’s squating still and stands, stands _far too quickly_ and if not for Hoseok’s quick hands again, he probably would have collapsed completely. His head is throbbing as he brushes away Hoseok’s hands, not wanting to be touched, almost _afraid_ of being touched.  
  
No, fear is right. He isn’t sure why he is trying to rethink that. Every instinct he has, every lesson he has ever been taught, every story he has ever read has _told him_ to be afraid. He is facing killers right now. An apology and a pretty smile didn’t negate that.  
  
“He’s bleeding. I can smell it,” Changkyun suddenly speaks up, sniffing at the air. Kihyun swears he sees a flash of red in his eyes, but the boy blinks and it’s quickly gone. Hoseok looks at Kihyun again and though Kihyun can sense how much older he is, how much more composed, he swears he sees the briefest flash of red there too. His nostrils flare, the motion so small Kihyun almost misses it.  
  
Slowly Kihyun reaches up, tentative fingers touching at the back of his head and he feels a patch slick with blood, breath hissing through his teeth as he brushes the gash. He moves to take a step back, suddenly feeling very much like prey, but he has less than half a foot before his back brushes the bus stop. Maybe now would be the time to call out for help, not that he feels like that would help much. He has seen how quick Changkyun is, how strong Hoseok is.  
  
Hoseok steps forward, slowly, the way someone would if they were approaching an injured animal. He holds his hands out at his sides, palms facing Kihyun to show them empty (though it’s the weapon built into his _mouth_ he’s concerned about more than anything he might actually wield.)  
  
“I want to help you,” he says gently and Kihyun immediately averts his eyes, remembering the lecture he had mostly daydreamt through. Vampires glamor via the eyes; without eye contact, their power flounders and fails. He trains his eyes on his shoes, trying to ignore the flecks of vomit there lest he turn his own stomach again. His hands tense against the glass behind him, fingers tensing, nails finding the smooth surface. He senses Hoseok take another step. And another.  
  
Soon they’re mere inches apart and Kihyun fights the urge to look up, to look at the man, rather focusing on one of the buttons of his shirt. It’s gleaming in the lamplight, pearl, maybe. Expensive. Sole spots of white on a spotlessly black button-up.  
  
“I want to help,” Hoseok says and his words are like silk, effortlessly flowing from his lips, seeming to wrap around Kihyun, warm him. He begins to panic, wondering if there had been something he’d missed in those lessons, some kind of exception. Maybe the particularly old vampires didn’t need eye contact. Maybe-  
  
Hoseok’s hands, light as air, are suddenly on the planes of his face, more a charge between their skins than actual physical contact. He pauses before they slowly skirt forward, coming to rest on the back of Kihyun’s head just below the wound, fingers finding purchase in the bloody locks. He doesn’t touch the wound, but when he moves his fingers again, connects the fingertips of each hand, it’s as if they form a small triangle around the gash.  
  
Hoseok’s touch leaves him feeling numb, an almost out of body experience, but at the same time… he feels inexplicably _safe_. He’s oddly taken back to his childhood, to nights where he had been sick and his mother had sat with him through the night, gently running her hand soothingly through his hair. Hoseok’s touch seems the hold the same gentleness, same reverence, and despite himself Kihyun finds himself closing his eyes, wanting to lean into the touch. Warmth. There is no longer pain, no longer the bite of winter air against an open wound. Just warmth and-  
  
He isn’t sure how, but he can sense the wound close.  
  
Then the hands move, gently skirting down his had, neck, shoulders, until he finds the vampire has wrapped his arms around him completely, fingers softly ghosting the expanse of his back. His chin is at Hoseok’s shoulder and even through his wool coat, he can feel… cold, ice. He has no body heat. It’s as if he’s being held by a statue.  
  
Kihyun’s breath catches in his throat when the fingers trace what he assumed to be his broken rib, the sudden breath sending electric pain shooting through his chest. He feels himself wheeze weakly, teeters, unintentionally burrows his face into the crook of Hoseok’s neck as he fights away the stars in his vision. He can feel Hoseok glance down at him for a moment, hesitate, and then he’s pressing on the spot of the injury. There’s warmth again and then the sensation of… being alright.  
  
Hoseok’s hands immediately fall away and Kihyun finds himself wishing, again despite himself, that he had dwelled just a moment longer. They stand there for a moment, Kihyun’s face resting at the junction of Hoseok’s shoulder and neck, the daze of pain evaporating. Then Hoseok steps away. When the breathes again, actually breathes, it no longer feels like glass is echoing along his lungs.  
  
His eyes flicker open, one hand slowly moving from the glass to touch the back of his skull. While the blood is still there, hardening now, there was no wound, not even a scar. Nothing. Healed.  
  
Hoseok is still standing close and Kihyun finally takes the opportunity to look at him, truly look at him. To look him in the eye. And he is unable to avoid the sense of awe he experiences in doing so. Hoseok is inches away, so close Kihyun should be able to feel his breath _if he were to actually breathe_. There’s an aura about him, a kind of depth that both horrifies him and fascinates him, repels him and is undoubtedly magnetizing.  
  
They stare at one another and Kihyun, for whatever reason, is fighting the urge to reach forward, touch him, _prove he’s real_ when there’s an awkward cough.  
  
Changkyun.  
  
Kihyun turns fifteen shades of red, turning his face away. Hoseok simply chuckles, low and musical, before taking a single step back. When he does, Kihyun is slapped once more with the full wrath of the windy night.  
  
The two stare one another down for long moments and Kihyun finds himself studying Hoseok, the broadness of his shoulders, the smallness of his waist. Even all bundled up, the build of his body is clear and it just leads Kihyun to flush again.  
  
Then something important catches his eye, a flash of color against Hoseok’s monochrome outfit. His hands gleam red where they hang at his side.  
  
“...You’ve got my blood on you,” Kihyun whispers because, well, it’s true. Hoseok’s fingers are dyed a sticky red and when he looks down, he seems surprised by the fact. He raises his hands, tilting them in the light of the streetlamp and the nausea Kihyun had been fighting is slowly creeping back in. That red glint is back in the man’s eyes, a little brighter, a little more intense, and for a long moment he hesitates. His mouth falls open mere centimeters and Kihyun can see the soft glint of his fangs beneath his pink lips. He takes in a stuttering breath, more a gesture than something biologically necessary. Then his eyes are on Kihyun and he lets his hands fall to his sides, wiping the blood on his jeans.  
  
Kihyun isn’t sure what he expected, but that isn’t it. Every story he had ever heard of vampires were of blood-thirsty demons that couldn’t resist even the tiniest drop. Hell, even just moments previously with Changkyun had supported that. But Hoseok, despite the glare of inhumanity in his eye, had opted to wipe the blood away, to not partake.  
  
Hoseok seems to catch the stare, catch Kihyun’s disbelief.  
  
“Expecting something else,” he asks and there’s the faintest glimmer of a smirk, “Expected me to lick it off or something?”  
  
Well, yes.  
  
That was what he had expected. Very much so.  
  
Hoseok is watching Kihyun with a sharp gaze, eyes darker than before and it’s then Kihyun realizes Hoseok’s smirk is growing and _holy shit a vampire is flirting with him. An actual, honest to god vampire-  
  
_“I mean, I still can, if you want-”  
  
“Gross! _”_ Changkyun complains loudly, and Hoseok cracks up, shaking his head at the two of them, “ _Gross!”  
  
_Hoseok steps further back, but his expression loses none of its wickedness. It also loses none of its shadow of softness, a kind of contentment that seems built into each and every expression he makes.  
  
Kihyun exhales shakily, composing himself, before he looks at Hoseok again. He doesn’t want to think of the flip his stomach just did at Hoseok’s words.  
  
“...You healed me,” he says slowly, stating the obvious, changing the subject.  
  
“I did,” Hoseok responds just as simply, just as slowly, and it occurs to Kihyun that it’s possible the vampire might be just as confused as he is on why exactly he did it. His brow is furrowed, lips quirked into a small frown that dimples his chin.  
  
“ _How_ though?”  
  
Kihyun is kicking himself. Should have paid more attention in Vampire Relations. He’d always found it a pointless subject, preferred to keep his head buried in more important subjects, subjects that would have an impact on his actual future. The chance of running into a vampire, (who all tended to keep more to themselves, living in their own communities and by their own laws) was slim to none.  
  
Typical for him to be the one to find the ‘slim’ part of that reality.  
  
But from what he _does_ remember, faint specters of facts his brain had unconsciously kept hold on, he cannot for the life of him remember anything about abilities beyond things like superhuman speed, strength, sight, and hearing. Essentially, the skills all run-of-the-mill vampires have.  
  
Healing falls under none of the above.  
  
“I am… very old,” Hoseok says measuredly, choosing what he says with the utmost care. That further confirms Kihyun’s earlier suspicions, but does nothing to answer his questions.  
  
“And your age just… allows you to defy the basic laws of the universe,” Kihyun says sarcastically, flippantly, but Hoseok doesn’t seem to catch this as he blinks back.  
  
“Well, not _all_ of them,” Hoseok reasons and oddly pouts, as if he _wishes_ that was the way things work, “Most people, myself included, only get one. I got healing. Helpful, really. I think you’d agree.”  
  
He flashes a smile at Kihyun and it’s so absolutely dazzling that Kihyun finds himself nodding, agreeing, before he forces himself to reel back. The last thing he needs is to get… chummy with this guy, friendly with a monster that could probably literally rip his head off at any given moment.  
  
“And our Changkyunie here is more or less a prodigy. Six months turned and already reading minds,” Hoseok says with a dreamy, proud sigh, truly like that of a father proud of a son.  
  
_Mind…  
  
__Reading…?  
  
_Kihyun feels himself pale in panic, trying to force his racing brain to think nothing. This of course backfires and he finds himself back to admiring Hoseok’s physique again and hey, maybe for once throwing up again would be a welcome distraction.  
  
“I’ve heard all the thirsty thought you’ve had for my Hyung,” Changkyun singsongs and Kihyun wishes he could melt into the ground beneath his feet, just disappear from their eyes.  
  
“I wasn’t- I didn’t- He,” Kihyun stutters, trying desperately for anything, anyway to change the subject, “ _His thighs_ , okay? Am I just supposed to not fucking notice _those?!”  
  
_He’s gesturing desperately to Hoseok’s legs and there’s a moment of silence where the two vampires regard one another, expressions serious, then break into laughter so loud Kihyun startles away a bit.  
  
“I was _kidding_! Mind reading, seriously? You believed that?” Hoseok wheezes as he leans over, cracking up and slapping one of the thighs Kihyun had just admitted to thirsting over. From the corner of his eye, Kihyun can see Changkyun is now literally curled up, having laughed himself hoarse, muttering something like _I can’t believe he fell for that_ over and over again.  
  
Kihyun is blank. Or, rather, he tries to be. He _really_ tries to be, but he immediately feels his cheeks light up, burn.  
  
“Only Jooheon can read minds,” Hoseok chortles off-handedly and there’s something about the fact that there may actually be a vampire capable of such a thing that makes Kihyun feel dramatically less secure than he had been when he began the night.  
  
“He’s pretty… ethical about it, though,” Hoseok reassures Kihyun and finally the laughing dies down, replaced with the most vibrant smile Kihyun has ever seen, fangs or no fangs. It doesn’t make sense, seeing sunshine glimmer in a creature of the night.  
  
And then Hoseok does something Kihyun never would have expected. He crouches down, begin meticulously picking up the papers, which he quickly discovers to be photographs, that Changkyun had sent cascading from Kihyun’s hands when he had tackled him minutes earlier. He stacks them neatly over his arm, reverently even, dusting a few off in the process.  
  
Finally he picks one up and pauses and his smile fades, expression devolving into something Kihyun cannot even begin to name. He leans up on his tiptoes, leaning forward to try and catch sight of which image has caught the vampire’s interest. Embarrassingly enough, it’s a picture of himself, taken with a timer, standing still in a field, head tilted back towards the sun above his head. The gold light plays across his sharp features, reflects like fire off the glass of his open eyes. His fingers are splayed out, running across the stalks of tawny wheat. The general sense of the image is absolute warmth and peace and the unmistakable safety found under the sun in times where the night holds nothing but uncertainty. Hoseok stares at it for so long that Kihyun begins feeling a bit awkward, casting a look at Changkyun only to find the man has turned his back to them, as if giving them privacy. Kihyun crouches, closer to Hoseok than he might choose to be, and begins collecting more of his scattered pieces.  
  
“... You can have it,” Kihyun finally says, not looking up as he frowns that one of the prints he just added to his stack is damaged, concrete leaving deep gashes in the color.  
  
It’s clear this surprises Hoseok. He looks up with raised eyebrows but a soft expression, regarding Kihyun before he looks back at the photograph again. It’s clear it speaks to him and for what reason… Kihyun can’t even begin to venture to guess.  
  
“You helped me. You saved my life and you healed me,” Kihyun coaxes, still refusing to look up, afraid of what he might find there. Hoseok’s eyes hold a power over him that he’s terrified of, the man’s eyes making him feel very small but, in a twist he cannot find himself understanding… very important.  
  
“It’s the least I can do-”  
  
“Okay,” Hoseok finally agrees, clearly having to terms with himself. He hands the rest back to Kihyun, who nearly misses then due to the fact he refuses him to look straight on. He stacks them, straightens them, and then is back on his feet, quickly followed by Hoseok.  
  
“...You should get home,” Hoseok says silently, eyes never leaving the picture he still has clenched in his hands, “You never know what might be lurking this hour of the night.”  
  
Silence.  
  
Kihyun’s laugh cracks the night, borderline hysterical and he finds himself wiping a stray tear from his eye as he shoves his photos into his messenger bag (where they honestly should have been in the first place.)  
  
“Honestly, I think I’ll be fine. I think I’ve met my quota for the undead for the evening,” he jokes and Hoseok frowns a bit but shrugs. There’s something else on his mind. The vampire is then leaning in, watching Kihyun curiously. Kihyun feels himself falter a bit at the intensity of his eyes and Hoseok seems to notice this, somehow immediately softening them.

“This is going to be an odd question,” Hoseok begins slowly and it quickly occurs to Kihyun that he’s _embarassed_. He has Kihyun’s photograph tucked under his arm and the fingers of his free hand are picking anxiously at his wool coat.  
  
Kihyun nods, waiting.  
  
“... Could I… get your phone number.”  
  
It hits Kihyun again. A vampire, _a fucking vampire_ , is hitting on him. His veins run cold, eyes wide and he immediately glances away, breaking eye contact because his gut reaction is _yes_ , _yes he wants to give Hoseok his phone number and that is so absolutely incredibly monumentally wrong._ He waits a moment, waits for the glamor to fade, the world to clear, but it _doesn’t.  
  
_Because there is no glamor.  
  
Just Hoseok.  
  
“...You _have a cell phone?”_ Kihyun finally manages weakly but incredulously and despite the fact Changkyun has tried to give the guise of giving them privacy, he chokes down a snort of a laugh.  
  
Hoseok looks offended.  
  
“I’m _immortal_. Not _elderly_ ,” he retorts a bit coolly and Kihyun can’t help but smile. For a moment they just smile at one another, Hoseok looking a bit meek, nervous, expecting rejection.  
  
Kihyun sighs, but his smile remains.  
  
“Fine. Give me your phone,” He says, the faintest bit of teasing on his tongue as he ignores his instincts screaming at him in the back of his mind.

“Changkyun.”  
  
“Changkyun.”  
  
“ _Changky-”  
  
__“What??”_ the younger vampire explodes, flinging a pillow across the room at Hoseok where he’s lounging on the nearby couch. He perhaps puts a little too much strength into the throw, still too inexperienced to really control his strength, and it explodes into a cloud of feathers against the wall above the elder’s head. Hoseok sits up, shaking feathers from his hair as he glares at the maknae.  
  
“It’s almost sunrise, what do you want?” Changkyun groans groggily, dramatically dropping back to the couch and slinging an arm over his eyes. He can sense they have just minutes before the sun breaks the horizon, it echoes through his body like a kind of ache.  
  
Hoseok’s silent, silent for too long, and Changkyun groans, rubbing at his eyes before he turns on his side to look at him.  
  
“ _Wha-”  
  
_“You were a human recently,” Hoseok begins and Changkyun sighs again, merely nodding.  
  
“...What’s the… social convention for… waiting before you text someone?’  
  
Changkyun props himself up at that, _really_ looking at Hoseok for the first time. He’s leaned against the armrest of the couch, knees pulled to his chest, phone in his hands and eyes laser focused on it. He’s pouting, a gesture he knows Changkyun has a weak spot for, and the fledgling vampire sighs.  
  
“I thought _you_ were the mentor here,” he points out, more to be difficult than anything else.  
  
The pout increases and its power causes Changkyun to feel physical pain in his chest.  
  
“...I guess you could do it now. But be quick about it. We’ve got,” Changkyun pauses, reaches deep into that instinct inside of him that more or less acts like an internal clock, “Three minutes and it’s quite literally lights out for us.”  
  
Hoseok nods sleepily, biting at his lip in thought.  
  
“I was going to say ‘nice meeting you tonight’, but that sounds… not entirely accurate,” he muses, shooting Changkyun a sharp look. Before the boy can apologize another time, Hoseok freezes, eyes lighting up, and his fingers shoot across the keyboard. A brief message, but one nonetheless.

  
  
_Sorry for any trouble we caused you. Hope you made it home safely. I hope you have a good day ahead of you._

 _  
  
_Hoseok hits send and is immediately on his feet, heading to his room - a trail of feathers fluttering in his wake- and ignoring Changkyun’s cries of ‘ _well what the hell did you send him!?’_ that are quickly muffled by his bedroom door. He flops onto his bed, not bothering with the covers, and turns his head to his nightstand where Kihyun’s photo sits. To him, to a man who cannot see the sun, it’s like a window to a world he misses desperately featuring a man that seems to shine just as brightly.  
  
His eyes begin to lull closed, heavy, as he feels the sun breach the horizon, night turning to day. It’s like a weight on him, impossibly heavy, something he couldn’t fight no matter how hard he tried.  
  
His phone dings.

**[1 Message - Yoo Kihyun]**

_I’m safe. Thank you. Sleep Well._

Hoseok breathes a contented sigh and allows the daylight to overtake him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hoseok and Kihyun text. The Coven texts. Hoseok and Kihyun meet face to face once again. Hoseok's secret starts to come to the surface.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This... did not end up going in the direction I expected. A part chat fic? Wtf.  
> Initially this was going to turn dark fast, but I wanted to keep it light.

[10:45PM]

**Hoseok  
** You okay?

**Kihyun  
** Yeah, why?

**Hoseok  
** Idk, just had a sense. :K

**Kihyun  
** ?  
What is that?

  
**Hoseok  
** What is what? :K

**Kihyun  
** That!  
The emoticon!

**Hoseok  
** Oh!  
That’s me!  
:K  
Changkyun taught me.  
It has my fangs and everything!  
And this one is Changkyun :k  
You know  
Because he’s smaller than me.

**Kihyun  
** I’m not even… sure what to say to that.

**Hoseok  
** Well, I think it’s cute. And you’ll always know it’s me.

**Kihyun  
** I’ll always know it’s you because I have your name saved in my phone.

**Hoseok  
** ...  
...Oh.

**Kihyun  
** You’re pouting, aren’t you?

**Hoseok  
** Maybe.

**Kihyun  
**...

[ **Kihyun** HAS CHANGED  **Hoseok** ’S NAME TO  **Hoseok :K** ]

[ **Kihyun** HAS CHANGED  **Changkyun** ’S NAME TO  **Changkyun :k** ]

**Hoseok :  
** ≧ω≦

**Kihyun  
** ???  
Did Changkyun teach you that too??

**Hoseok :K  
** No, Minhyuk.

**Kihyun  
** Minhyuk?

**Hoseok :K  
** Another one of my mentees.

**Kihyun  
** Wait, how many do you have?

**Hoseok :K  
** Oh, just the two.

**Kihyun  
** Just two dangerous, fledgling vampires with little to no self control.  
Got it.

Feeling a little horrified here.

**Hoseok :K  
** Eh, it’s fine. Minhyuk’s nearly two years old now.  
It’s Changkyun you have to keep an eye on.  
He’s still…

Teething

**Kihyun  
** I’m sorry, I thought we were talking about fledgling vamps  
Not toddlers

**Hoseok :K  
** You say that like there’s much of a difference.

**Kihyun  
** Remember when I said I was horrified before?  
I lied.  
I’m horrified  _ now. _

  
  
  


**Hoseok :K  
** With Changkyun, it’s mostly just his personality.  
Not so much his nature.  
You know  
He has your name saved into his phone  
As  
‘Potential Snack’

[ **Kihyun** HAS CHANGED  **Changkyun :k** ’S NAME TO  **Not To Be Trusted** ]

  
  


**Hoseok :K  
** Really though, are you okay?  
Like you’re feeling alright?  
Changkyun hit you pretty hard the other night.  
There could have been something I missed.

  
  


**Kihyun  
** While I appreciate the concern  
It almost sounds like you  _ expect  _ something to be wrong.  
Anything you want to clue me in on?

**Hoseok :K  
** … no  
It’s just that  
Well  
I’ve never  
Actually  
Healed a human before 

**Kihyun  
** What?

**Hoseok :K  
** I’ve never actually healed a human before.

**Kihyun  
** No  
I got that  
I just-  
Why?  
Why me?

**Hoseok  
** Why not?

**Kihyun  
** It just seems odd to live a hundred years and never do something  
And then do it  
For a stranger

**Hoseok :K  
** Five hundred years

**Kihyun  
** What?

**Hoseok :K  
** I’ve been alive for five hundred years.

**Kihyun  
** that somehow makes it worse.

**Hoseok :K  
** Worse?

**Kihyun  
** That there’s something about me that broke that streak.  
Why?  
What about me was different?

**_Hoseok_ ** _ IS TYPING A MESSAGE  
_ _ …  
_ **_Hoseok_ ** _ IS TYPING A MESSAGE  
_ _... _

**Hoseok :K  
** This is really a more… in person conversation.

**Kihyun  
** Are you…  
Suggesting we meet up?

**Hoseok :K  
** … maybe

**Kihyun  
** You could just ask me out, you know.  
I mean  
You were bold enough to ask for my phone number  
And I _gave it to you_.

**Hoseok :K  
** True.  
But what if you say no to a date?

**Kihyun  
** So you think I’m more likely to say yes to information?

**Hoseok :K  
**...

**Kihyun  
** I hate that you’re right about that.

**Hoseok :K  
** So…  
One hour?  
The place we first met?

**_Kihyun_ ** _ IS TYPING A MESSAGE  
... _

**_Kihyun_ ** _ IS TYPING A MESSAGE  
... _

**_Kihyun_ ** _ IS TYPING A MESSAGE _

**Kihyun  
** Okay, fine.  
Just promise me one thing.

**Hoseok :K  
** Of course.

**Kihyun  
** Leave that attack dog of yours at home.

**Hoseok :K  
** Deal.  
I don’t even think  
I could separate him from Overwatch if I tried.  
Or coax him into a pair of pants.

**Kihyun  
**...  
...So an hour?

**Hoseok :K  
** An hour.

**Kihyun  
** Okay.

  
[READ 11:11PM]

  
  


**[THE COVEN]**

[11:34PM]

**Hyukie (◕‿◕✿)  
** Where’s Hoseokie Hyung off to?

**Hyunwoo  
** Don’t know

**Grounded  
** I could find out!

**Offline  
** Changkyun, you know you’re under house arrest

**Grounded  
** :(

**Hyukie (◕‿◕✿)  
** Wonnie!!!  
You’re online!

**Offline  
** Not for lack of trying.  
You still won’t tell me how to delete this app.

**Hyukie (◕‿◕✿)  
** And I never will~

**Offline  
** Look, he’s probably just out hunting.  
He hasn’t gone since The Incident.

**Honeybeat  
** The Incident?

**Offline  
** That’s how we’re referring to the night where Changkyun tried to take a chunk out of Hyung’s new boyfriend.

**Hulk Hyung  
** He’s not my boyfriend.  
I barely know him.

**Grounded  
** I don’t know, that embrace looked pretty… intimate.

[ **Hulk Hyung** HAS CHANGED  **Grounded** ’S NAME TO  **Super Grounded** ]

**Super Grounded  
** :(

**Hulk Hyung  
** I was healing him and you know that.  
It was the back of his rib cage that was hurt.

**Super Grounded  
** You could have like  
Turned him around?

**Hyunwoo  
** Wait did he really like… hold him?

**Hyukie (◕‿◕✿)  
** Look at Hyunwoo getting in on the gossip!

**Hulk Hyung  
** Hyung, seriously??

**Hyunwoo  
** What? I’m curious.  
It’s been ages since you were interested in anyone.

**Honeybeat  
** Yeah!  
_ Centuries. _

**Hulk Hyung  
** Ouch.  
First of all: uncalled for.  
Second of all: untrue.

**Honeybeat:  
** Oh?  
Something to confess?

**Hulk Hyung:**   
...  
… I’ll be back before sunrise.  
And don’t forget Changkyun is grounded.

[ **Hulk Hyung** IS AWAY]

**Super Grounded  
** Do I have to be? :(

**Hyunwoo  
** Yes.  
You’re lucky it was Hoseok that was with you.  
You could have done some real damage.

**Super Grounded  
** I know.  
I’m just still getting used to it.  
The smell of everything. And the strength.

**Hyukie (◕‿◕✿)  
** And no one blames you for that.  
You’re not really being  _ punished  
_ Per se.

**Super Grounded  
** But Hoseok hyung  
When he saw that guy  
Something was weird.

**Hyukie (◕‿◕✿)  
** Weird how?

**Super Grounded  
** I don’t know.  
It was like he’d seen a ghost.

**Hyunwoo  
** We’re vampires, Changkyun  
Ghosts aren’t exactly out of the realm of possibility.

[11:56; read by all]

\----

By the time one hour rolls around, Kihyun is sitting on the bench of the aforementioned bus stop and shivering. In the past few days, the shattered pane has been replaced and Kihyun finds himself merely staring at it, shadows of days passing like smoke before his eyes. As he burrows deeper into his coat, he finds himself wondering if Hoseok even knows what day it is, if dates and holidays have any meaning to an immortal.  
  
_Immortal_.  
  
To say he has been able to think of anything besides Hoseok since meeting him would be a lie. And while he would _prefer_ to attribute those thoughts to being solely focused on _what_ Hoseok is and not _who_ he is, that would be the least believable lie he could tell himself.  
  
Somehow, and his logical mind cannot begin to tease this apart, Hoseok’s personality and his… _status_ are almost equally weighed in his mind; fangs just as fascinating to him as the smile that flashes them. There is something about him that is wholly unique, that seems to have nothing to do with what he is, has nothing to do with his vampirism. Since that night, they have been texting back and forth, innocent things, almost too polite, too withdrawn, as if both too afraid of taking any kind of step forward. Kihyun’s early hours as a barista, paired with his late hours as a graduate student, have made an oddly perfect window for them to talk. He usually wakes hours before dawn for work, naps away the midday, then works late into the night on projects for upcoming deadlines. It’s a lifestyle that permanently leaves his eyes sunken and shadowed, but it’s oddly perfect for catching the random little messages Hoseok sends his way.  
  
Kihyun watches a couple walk by, bundled tightly and standing close against the blustery night. Nearby, a bar glitters with strands of colored lights. No, he didn't quite expect an immortal to recognize a holiday like Christmas. He’s sure after so many years alive, everything probably passes in an indistinguishable blur.  
  
Kihyun checks his phone. He has no messages, it’s approaching 12:30, and when he taps at the screen, his fingers are so frozen that it barely responds. He sighs, breath spiraling into the air, and clicks the screen off, frowning slightly.  
  
“Sorry I’m late,” a voice says from his right and he flinches, eyes raising immediately. Hoseok stands before him, looking sheepish, rubbing one hand along the back of his neck, free hand holding a drink carrier with two cups balanced delicately on top. Kihyun waves his hand, goes to say ‘no problem’, but is interrupted by the yawn that tears itself from his mouth. He flushes and Hoseok laughs, the expression reaching his eyes and so wholly pleasant that it’s so incredibly easy to forget what he is.  
  
“You could have said no, I wouldn’t have been offended,” Hoseok teases, hesitating before taking a seat beside Kihyun. He leaves a space between them; more than enough to be polite, but just enough to make sure that Kihyun feels safe in his presence. He sets the drinks on his lap and Kihyun’s eyes follow them.  
  
“Coffee?” he asks, fighting off another persistent yawn and managing to squash it down, but at the expense of his eyes watering. He quickly wipes it away with the back of his hand.  
  
“Hot chocolate,” Hoseok says apologetically, pulling one from the tray and holding it out to Kihyun who, to his own surprise, doesn’t hesitate in taking it. If Hoseok wants to harm him, he has much easier ways hot chocolate. Kihyun raises the cup to his lips and pauses when he sees Hoseok do the same with his own, eyebrow raised.  
  
“...and for you?”  
  
“And for me?” Hoseok echoes, seems confused, takes a moment and a laugh suddenly explodes from his lips, shoulders shaking at the effort. He even goes as far as to cover the lip of the travel cup with his thumb so he doesn’t spill. He shakes his head, goes to wipe tears from his eyes and Kihyun sees with a sinking feeling they’re _red_ , tears diluted with blood. He’d heard stories that vampires cried blood, heard of the science, but to truly see it (and truly see it in _laughter_ ) makes his stomach turn a little.  
  
“ _Also_ hot chocolate,” Hoseok finally manages, clearly amused beyond belief at Kihyun’s implication. He goes as far as taking the lid off the cup, tilting the liquid in the light to show dark chocolate and melting whipped cream.  
  
“I try not to make a habit of drinking blood out of a coffee cup too often,” he muses before taking a sip and Kihyun smiles, plays the words in his head, takes a moment to stumble across actual meaning of them, and frowns again. But by that point, Hoseok is smiling effortlessly again, making it clear it’s all a game, he’s kidding, and Kihyun tries to settle back comfortably against the bench. He pauses, stares at his own cup before he takes a sip.  
  
Of course he’s met with the familiar taste of hot chocolate, but he can’t shake the fact that there was almost a small part of him that feared it would be something else, like the vampire across from him would be pulling some kind of impossibly dark prank. But this time when Kihyun looks back, Hoseok is looking away, watching the few people straggling by at this time of night.  
  
“Sorry to call you out on Christmas,” he finally says, breathing over his hot chocolate, sending steam into the air. Kihyun wasn’t even aware vampires _could_ breathe. He just knows they don’t need to.  
  
“Do vampires even celebrate…?”  
  
“Some do,” Hoseok answers easily, leaning back, “It’s all a matter of personal preference. I mean, it’s cheesy to say we’re no different than humans because we clearly _are_ , but in some aspects… there are definitely more similarities than differences.”  
  
Kihyun finds himself nodding, not because he truly understands but because there’s something about Hoseok that’s so utterly compelling. The way his tongue forms words, the way his thoughts flow together, it’s all so utterly composed and effortless and impossible to ignore even for the briefest moment. A part of Kihyun wonders if that’s Hoseok’s personality or his… _condition_.  
  
“I wasn’t celebrating or anything,” Kihyun responds, tugging at a loose thread at the edge of his sweater sleeve, “I was finishing up some stuff for school. I was surprised when you texted me.”  
  
Hoseok finally looks at him again, watches him with those intense eyes that Kihyun has already committed to memory. Eyes he’s seen gleam three colors: red, gold, and their current darker brown, something a little more human. It occurs to him besides the occasional poke of a fang and the pallor of his skin, Kihyun would never have had a reason to suspect Hoseok for being a vampire. It makes him wonder how many others he has passed and never truly realized.  
  
It’s a chilling thought.  
  
Hoseok nods thoughtfully, “I won’t keep you long. I just… wanted to make sure you were okay. That you felt okay. Like I said, what I did the other night wasn’t something I’ve ever done before.”  
  
It’s a good question, even if Kihyun is reluctant to admit it. Because to be frank, the first couple of days he did feel a bit… _off_ , like his body, his own energy, was wholly unfamiliar. He’d found himself exhausted under the rays of the sun, hyperaware in the moonlight, senses somehow slightly sharper and thirst a little more ravenous than he was used to. He had chalked it all up to his imagination but now, sitting beside Hoseok under the concerned gaze of the other man, he can no longer be completely sure. He shifts uncomfortably, maybe adds a tiny bit more space between them as he twists his legs away, but Hoseok doesn’t look offended.  
  
“Something happened,” Hoseok simply says, gently, as if afraid of scaring Kihyun off. His eyes have become a little more intense now, nothing feral, just _serious_. And if anything - and Kihyun could be imagining this - Hoseok looks a little scared too.  
  
Kihyun sighs.  
  
“Nothing _happened_ , per se. I just… felt odd for a few days. I felt... “ he trails off, hesitates, takes another drink from his hot cocoa. There’s something about the warmth of the drink that makes him feel alive, reminds him of the stark differences between him and the man that sits beside him. It’s as if he can feel the heat course through his veins and it’s reassuring in a way he isn’t even sure how to verbalize.  
  
Hoseok doesn’t prompt him to say more, merely waits with the patience of a man that has eternity.  
  
“I think I felt a bit like you, to be honest,” Kihyun manages and even though he doesn’t fully understand it, he feels _embarrassed_. Hoseok sits up a bit at that, clearly interested, and sets his drink on the drink tray sitting by his side. He leans in, but not too much, not enough to make Kihyun nervous. Just enough to truly get a good look at him.  
  
“...And what do you think I feel like,” he asks slowly and Kihyun isn’t sure if he imagines it, but there’s almost something a bit _dangerous_ about it, a brief glimpse at the predator he fundamentally knows Hoseok to be. Because even beneath his dyed blond hair and designer clothes, Kihyun’s instincts have him pegged as a threat, as something dangerous. A wolf in sheep’s clothing.  
  
“Strong,” Kihyun says, but flippantly, as if he knows putting too much behind the words will go to the man’s head. Even as he says them, he can see Hoseok’s chest puff up a little, proud.  
  
“But the sun…” the words fade from Kihyun’s lips as he grasps for what could possibly describe what he had felt just days ago. He had left the cafe after his shift, stepping into the noonday sun with Yoongi by his side, and found tears springing to his eyes, his legs automatically repelling him back to the shadow of the awning overhead. He had blinked away tears from his eyes, gaze finding the ground in shock. Yoongi had frozen, eyes growing wide, and when Kihyun had reached up to wipe his own, he’d been shocked at the red stains that that had marred his white sleeves.  
  
“What about the sun?” Hoseok asks and he sounds a bit breathless, entranced, and there is something there Kihyun cannot necessarily understand, something deep, something too far removed from who and what he is to truly make sense.  
  
“... it hurt a bit,” he finally manages lamely, swirling his cup and listening to the way the hot chocolate sloshes around inside. He looks for anything that isn’t Hoseok but can feel his eyes on him, can feel the way his gaze triggers something feral in him, something that urges him to flee.  
  
“ _A bit_ ,” Hoseok echoes thoughtfully and nods as he sits back, folding his arms over his chest. He looks at Kihyun, but when he sees his eyes averted he finds himself looking away as well. There’s a breath between them, just the faintest moment, and their eyes meet at the same time. For Kihyun, it’s innocent, but in Hoseok’s gaze he can’t help but find something he cannot necessarily explain.  
  
“Does the sun hurt you?” Kihyun asks, and it’s innocent.  
  
“The sun will kill me,” Hoseok responds and it’s wholly not. He doesn’t even react to the way Kihyun flinches away, the way the man peers up at the still dark sky. The sun will not rise for hours yet. And even when it does, Hoseok will be able to sense it long in advance.  
  
“ _How_?” Kihyun asks, the way a child might ask a question they know to be forbidden and Hoseok smiles softly, picks up his hot chocolate again.  
  
“I don’t know the science,” he replies honestly, finding no reason not to, “But it burns. I imagine stepping into the sun for me is like a human stepping into a fire.”  
  
Kihyun isn’t quite sure how to respond to that, gets an image of a man exploding in the sunlight in his head and shivers, trying to shake the image away. He takes another sip of his drink, feels the heavy weight of Hoseok’s eyes.  
  
“Have you ever been burned by it? By the sun?”  
  
Hoseok nods before setting his drink down once again. He shrugs off his coat and rolls up the sleeve of his shirt. Kihyun is mesmerized at his skin, looking less like skin but porcelain. He wants to lean in, try to find pores, hair, anything that shows his skin is human, but resists.  
  
He freezes when he sees what Hoseok is trying to show him. A dark welt on his upper arm, near the nook of his elbow, an unhealed burn still raw and red and fresh.  
  
Kihyun touches at it lightly, concerned, and Hoseok hisses through his teeth.  
  
“When did this happen?” he asks, frowning at the wound, and the oily gleam it shines with, “You should get it checked out-”  
  
“Four hundred years ago,” Hoseok cuts him off, but not rudely, “That burn is more than four hundred years old.”  
  
Kihyun chokes on nothing at the reveal of that information, merely leaning closer. It looks like a burn that could have happened just hours previous, still shining and sleek and inflamed.  
  
“Four… hundred... _years_ ?”Kihyun manages, hoarse and borderline shrieky.  
  
Hoseok nods, watches Kihyun a moment more, at the way the human’s fingers ghost his skin. Now it’s his time to shiver. Finally he pushes his sleeve back down.  
  
“For vampires, Sunburns never heal,” He provides simply, “And even I, with my abilities, cannot heal me nor my coven from Sunburns.”  
  
“Coven? You have a coven?” Kihyun latches onto that quickly and Hoseok wishes he wouldn’t. This, them, together is safe. Bringing the others into the mix, a house of six vampires… it’s too dangerous for Kihyun. And Hoseok wants nothing more than to change the subject.  
  
“So any other side effects after the healing?” he attempts, but Kihyun scowls, knowing what Hoseok’s trying to do.  
  
“How many in your coven?” he asks, and now it’s time for Kihyun’s eyes to echo something a little dangerous. Hoseok isn’t sure how he feels about that.  
  
“Do we have to…”  
  
“Yes.”  
  
Hoseok sighs, rubs his eyes, and finally downs the last of his drink.  
  
“Six, counting me,” he supplies, though not entirely willingly.  
  
“And you’re the eldest?”  
  
Hoseok can’t help but laugh, shaking his head.  
  
“God, no. That would be-” he trails off, not sure if he should bring Hyunwoo’s name into this. But Kihyun keeps staring at him and he gives in.  
  
"Hyunwoo. Hyunwoo is the eldest.”  
  
“How old is he?”  
  
Hoseok’s lips screw up in thought, “Somewhere north of 800 years, I think.”  
  
That’s enough to cause Kihyun’s mind to freeze up, the concept of 800 years, of having seen kingdoms rise and fall, of the world changing so absolutely.  
  
“So… Hyunwoo,” Kihyun begins slowly and Hoseok looks over curiously, “Was he the one that… you know… made you…?”  
  
“Was Hyunwoo the one that sired me? Yes.”  
  
“Why?”  
  
Kihyun has no way of knowing what he’s asking for, does no realize the darkness he’s forcing Hoseok to relive as his mind spirals back across centuries the rise and falls of dynasties and cities, of wars, peace. His eyes darken and, to his shock (and maybe to his terror), Hoseok’s eyes flash gold.  
  
“I’m not quite ready to tell that story. Not yet. I hope you don’t hate me for that-”  
  
Kihyun is quick to shake his head and, even to his own surprise, reaches out and takes Hoseok’s hand in his own, a gesture of comfort. His skin is cold, unnervingly so, and it takes all Kihyun has not to flinch away.  
  
“Take your time. I don’t expect anything from you, I want you to know that.”  
  
“The feeling's mutual,” Hoseok replies.  
  
Silence, but it’s not uncomfortable. Kihyun thinks of removing his hand from Hoseok’s, but there’s something about it that feels so wholly and absolutely _right_. If anything, he tightens his grip, watching swirls of snow that flow by them in anxious flurries.  
  
“There were no other major side effects, then? From the healing?” Hoseok asks, watching the flurries as well, his own fingers tightening with Kihyun’s as well. At some point in their conversation, they’ve scooted closer, nearly touching now, but not quite. It’s as if something deeper than them, something more instinctive, keeps them apart. Because even as they sit here, speaking as just two men… they both know that’s not the case. In the eyes of the universe, Hoseok is an Apex predator and Kihyun is his prey. There really is no way to brush off that feeling of… inequality, of danger, of the weakness Hoseok can inevitably sense coming from the human now holding his hands.  
  
Kihyun shakes his head, “Nothing major. It was hard to stay awake when the sun was up…”  
  
Hoseok nods, “Makes sense. For vampires, sunup is lights out.”  
  
Kihyun’s head tilts to the side curiously, questions clear in his eyes.  
  
Hoseok smiles faintly, “Literally lights out. Once the sun breaks the horizon, we’re out cold.”  
  
This surprises Kihyun and he blinks, looking a little shocked.  
  
“So you’re essentially, what, sitting ducks?” Kihyun doesn’t know why, but that panics him. There are huge Anti-Vampire organizations, including police raids that have been spending the better part of the past ten years rounding up and exterminating every vampire they could get their hands on, fear making diplomacy an impossibility between the two sides.  
  
It bothers Kihyun, and he isn’t quite sure _why_ , but the thought of Hoseok lying helpless somewhere, unable to protect himself in the event of a daytime raid- it’s panic-inducing for him.  
  
Hoseok leans away a bit, eyes wide, hand moving to rest gently on the pulse point on Kihyun’s wrist. It seems to be going a thousand miles an hour.  
  
“Are you okay? Your heart is racing. Are yo-”  
  
“Fine,” Kihyun cuts him off, finally ripping his hand away, afraid of what might happen if Hoseok realizes how afraid the thought of Hoseok helpless and hurt and _killed_ makes him, how his mind cannot imagine a worse thing that could happen.  
  
“I’m _fine_ ,” he manages again, a little more calmly and when he looks up at Hoseok, his heart aches. Hoseok looks hurt, staring at his empty hand that had once held Kihyun’s. He swallows hard, nods, then looks up.  
  
“I’m sorry. I’m not sure what I did, but I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. I swear,” he apologizes quietly, almost like a child that’s been scolded. Suddenly he looks so much smaller, so much… safer.  
  
Hoseok checks his watch, frowns at the hour.  
  
“You should be sleeping,” he says quietly, “I know you wake up early for work.”  
  
Kihyun can’t help but agree, but he’s sitting here realizing that this had been going so well and he was the one that fucked it up. He could, without a doubt, spend all night speaking to Hoseok, hearing his stories, telling his own, laughing at the mere ridiculousness of a vampire and human lazing on a bus bench getting to know one another. But Hoseok is on guard now, thinks he’s done something, wronged Kihyun somehow, and he is standing.  
  
Kihyun quickly catches his hand, rising as well. Hoseok stands a few centimeters above him and peers down curiously.  
  
“Can we talk tomorrow, too?” Kihyun asks quickly, looking at their hands and feeling like he cannot even breathe until he receives Hoseok’s answer. The vampire smiles and it’s genuine, scrunches up his eyes and shows the tiniest flash of his fangs.  
  
“Same place?”  
  
Kihyun looks up, sees Hoseok’s smile, and allows his own to beam through as well, boxy and the definition of pure joy. Hoseok glances at their hands, intertwines their fingers, and hesitates. Then he leans down a bit, face to face with Kihyun, faces mere centimeters apart, and Hoseok is staring him straight in the eye, as if studying them. There’s something in Hoseok’s gaze he can’t make sense of, can’t seem to tease apart, a kind of age and seriousness that’s unfamiliar on the face of the man he’s coming to know.  
  
“Hoseok?”  
  
“Just one more moment,” he says quietly, almost a plea, eyes never leaving Kihyun’s. He bites at his lip and while it’s possible he hallucinated it, he could have sworn he saw _sadness_ pass Hoseok’s face. Finally, the vampire leans away, clearing his throat.  
  
“Tomorrow, then. Same time. Same place,” he says as he begins picking up the trash from their drinks, dumping them into a nearby trashcan. He glances back over his shoulder as if about to say something else, stops himself, then simply waves.  
  
“Until tomorrow, Yoo Kihyun,” he says cheerfully as he walks off.  
  
Kihyun watches him go, somehow more confused now than when he had first arrived.

  
  
  
  


[PRIVATE CHAT]

[2:45AM]

**Hoseok  
** Hey Hyung

**Hyunwoo  
** Finally back?

**Hoseok  
** Yeah.  
But just…  
More confused than before.

**Hyunwoo  
** Oh?  
I’m in my room if you want to talk

**Hoseok  
** … I feel like I couldn’t say half of what I wanted to say out loud.  
Is it okay if we talk here?

**Hyunwoo  
** Of course

**_Hoseok_ ** _ IS TYPING A MESSAGE  
  
...  
  
_ **_Hoseok_ ** _ IS TYPING A MESSAGE _

**Hyunwoo  
** Hoseok  
Just say it.

**Hoseok  
** Easier said than done  
I feel like  
I’m losing my mind

**Hyunwoo  
** Okay  
Let’s start there  
Why?

**Hoseok  
** Promise not to laugh?

**Hyunwoo  
** …

**Hoseok  
** _ Hyung _ !

**Hyunwoo  
** I’ll do my best.

  
  


**Hoseok  
** What’s your opinion on  
Reincarnation?

**Hyunwoo  
** Reincarnation?

**Hoseok  
** Yeah.

**Hyunwoo  
** We’re vampires, Hoseok.  
I’ve been alive for more than 800 years.  
It’s dumb to rule things out just because we have no proof for it.

**Hoseok  
** ...I guess

**Hyunwoo  
** Does this have to do with this Kihyun guy?

**Hoseok  
** … yes.

**Hyunwoo  
** Do you think he’s a reincarnation of someone you once knew?

**Hoseok  
** Not exactly  
At least not in the textbook sense

**_Hoseok_ ** _ IS TYPING A MESSAGE  
...  
_ **_Hoseok_ ** _ IS TYPING A MESSAGE _

**Hyunwoo  
** Hoseok, just say it.

  
  


**Hoseok  
**Do you remember  
When you first met me?  
When I was dying.  
And my lover.  
Because we’d been caught together.

  
  


**Hyunwoo  
** Yes, he was already dead.  
I couldn’t save him.  
… but what about him?

**Hoseok  
** Kihyun  
Kihyun has his eyes.  
My lover’s eyes from all those years ago.  
I’d never forget those eyes.  
Like sunlight.  
He was my sunlight.  
He was stolen from me.

**Hyunwoo  
** ...and you think you’ve found him again.

**Hoseok  
** I don’t want to think that  
I don’t want to get hurt  
I don’t want to be wrong.

**Hyunwoo  
** Do you feel wrong?

**Hoseok  
** …  
No.  
I would know those eyes anywhere.

**Hyunwoo  
** Have you told him yet?  
About his eyes?

**Hoseok  
** What?  
Of course not!  
What if he thinks I’m crazy!

**Hyunwoo  
** Hoseok, you’re a vampire. I don’t think it gets crazier than that.

**Hoseok  
** I hate when you’re right  
Just for the record.  
…  
Should I… tell him?

**Hyunwoo  
** I would. If he’s involved, he deserves to know.  
When do you see him next?

**Hoseok  
** ...Tomorrow.

**Hyunwoo  
** Sounds like fate. Tell him then.

**Hoseok  
** I don’t know about this…

**Hyunwoo  
** Just do it. He deserves to know and I know you believe that.

**Hoseok  
** Fine.  
I’ll tell him tomorrow.  
...Thanks, Hyunwoo.

**Hyunwoo**

:)

  
  


[Read; 3:15am]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Please leave feedback, theories, comments, etc. They help so much! I feel very out of my element writing this genre. :(
> 
> Also, please come hang out with me on my [ my Twitter](https://twitter.com/neonnightlites)! I post teasers and snippets and WIPs and love chatting with new Monbebe friends. <3 <3


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hoseok and Kihyun get to know one another a little better.

**[1 Message - Yoo Kihyun]**

Hoseok frowns down at his phone as he locks the door to their house behind him, clicking to pull up their latest text thread to find a new message from Kihyun.  
  
**Kihyun**

I’m going to drop a pin.

Meet me there

Didn’t want to meet at the bus stop again.  
  
Hoseok frowns again but types back a quick ‘okay’, a map immediately pushed through to his phone. He squints, looks close, and finds it to be a cafe, which is even more confusing. It is well past midnight. He doubts the place will be open.  
  
But it is _closer_ , so he doesn’t argue, simply memorizing the address and directions before he shoves his phone back into his coat pocket. As he starts down the small path through their front garden, he slows, two shadows coming his way. He blinks and realizes it to be Hyungwon and Minhyuk arm-in-arm, Minhyuk chattering his ear off while Hyungwon merely smiles and watches Minhyuk with incredible fondness. When Hyungwon sees Hoseok standing there, his face goes flat but Minhyuk bounds forward, a bit of a smirk on his lips.  
  
“Off to see your human?” he teases and Hoseok rolls his eyes and, just to mess with him, reaches over and musses with his hair.  
  
“Just two years ago, I could have said the same to Hyungwon about you,” Hoseok says simply, pointedly, but there’s no missing the good naturedness in it. If he could, Hoseok is sure Hyungwon would have blushed. He opens his mouth to protest before Hoseok waves his hand amicably, grinning.  
  
“You know I’m just picking at you. But yes, I’m going to see Kihyun. I’ll be back in a few hours, plenty of time to go hunt. Want to join me?”  
  
Hyungwon shakes his head, having fed most recently, but Minhyuk is young and has already gone three nights without blood and is beginning to get a little antsy, shaky. Hoseok himself is also feeling a bit off; healing Kihyun just days ago had taken a lot out of him and even before then, he hadn’t fed in days. He estimates it’s probably been about a week and a half now, a difficult thing even for a vampire of his age.  
  
“I’ll come pick you up once I’m done,” Hoseok says pleasantly, patting Minhyuk on his shoulder as the two younger vampires both subconsciously move aside, allowing him to pass. He outranks them by centuries and though he sees his coven members as brothers, certain things are hardwired into their kind, nearly as deeply as their need for blood. He glances back once he reaches the front gate, finds them still watching, and waves for good measure before turning, starting off down the street.  
  
The cafe Kihyun directed him to is small, a bit shabby and set off from the street a bit, hidden down a close alleyway. When he arrives, it’s dark (which he had expected as much) and when he cups his hands to look in through the glass windows, he’s surprised to see a low light and movement inside. He hesitates, takes a step back, then another, but his back finds the wall of the alley. His instincts are very fine tuned to keep him from places like this, places he could be trapped, places he could be hunted. Those instincts are screaming at him to walk away.  
  
But he doesn’t.  
  
Instead he tries the handle on the door and, to his surprise, it swings open effortlessly beneath his hand. He’s immediately hit with a rush of the aroma of espresso and sugar and milk and steps inside, peering around. He uses his foot to close the door behind him quietly.  
  
“...Kihyun?” he calls out, peering around the empty shop. It’s… quaint. Just a few mismatches tables, chairs and couches, local art pieces hanging on the wall… as well as photographs he recognizes to be Kihyun’s own. He steps closer to one, another image from the same shoot the photograph beside his bed came from. In this one, Kihyun’s lying in the grass, staring up at the camera, one eye closed against the glare of the sun, the other covered by his hand held above his face. His opened eye is shadowed and, like everytime Hoseok sees his eyes, a shock works its way down his spine.  
  
“Hoseok,” Kihyun finally says as he appears from the back room, wiping at his hands with a towel. He’s smiling and his hair’s a little askew, face and locks dusted with what appears to be flour of some kind. Hoseok laughs a little, steps closer, and feels indescribable warmth in his chest when Kihyun doesn’t step away. He knows it can’t be an easy thing, standing so still when his instincts are probably screeching for him to run.  
  
He reaches up, slowly, gently, meeting Kihyun’s wide eyes for consent before the other man nods. He then gently brushes the flour away, allowing it to rain to the floor between their feet. Upon realizing he’d been covered in it, Kihyun flushes and Hoseok finds it beyond charming.  
  
“Did I interrupt you working?” Hoseok asks, but makes no effort to step back again. When Kihyun breathes, he can feel it on his face. Standing this close, he can almost feel the warmth of his body.  
  
It’s Kihyun, in a small panic, that realizes their proximity and takes a clumsy step backwards, nearly running into the shop’s pastry case.  
  
“N-No. Just trying to get ahead of work for the morning while I waited,” he says, nodding as if to solidify that it’s the truth. Hoseok laughs a little at that and Kihyun seems surprised by the reaction.  
  
“I like the cafe,” he compliments, glancing around once more. It’s homey, warm, and artsy, a perfect place for Kihyun to work. The other man glances around as well, smiles fondly and nods, “Yeah. It’s Yoongi’s mom’s place. Yoongi being my best friend. I’ve been working here since… forever. And before that, it’s like I grew up here. They were my family.”  
  
“Oh? And what about yours?”  
  
Silence and Hoseok immediately knows he’s said the wrong thing. He takes a step forward, starts apologizing, but Kihyun waves his hand and manages to squeeze away.  
  
“It’s nothing. You had no way of knowing. They died when I was very young. I only have a few memories of them,” Kihyun says airily, but Hoseok knows he feels anything but. He wants to reach out, touch him, wants to… wants to _hold him_ , but doesn’t, merely watches how the man begins meticulously straightening the coffee cups displayed in the merchandise corner of the shop. After a moment, Hoseok approaches, gently helps, fingers impossibly light over the fragile mugs. Thankful after so many years, he’s ended up with near perfect control over his strength.  
  
He says nothing else.  
  
And for moments they stand in silence, shoulder to shoulder, making small little changes, pausing to judge them, then changing them again.  
  
It’s Kihyun who breaks the silence.  
  
“You want to know how,” he says quietly, picking up one particular mug he finds is somehow chipped. He isn’t looking at Hoseok, running his nail over the roughness beneath the polished porcelain. Hoseok wants to shake his head, wants to say no, wants to say he doesn’t want Kihyun to unnecessarily open that wound when he’s probably already opened it countless times.  
  
Kihyun sighs, going to set the mug aside, his back to Hoseok when he speaks again.  
  
“I don’t even know. I was staying with my grandparents one day. We came back, found blood, but not them. But it was too much blood for them to have survived,” he says but his voice is void, disassociated.  
  
He doesn’t say more, but the implication is like a stake to Hoseok’s heart.  
  
The mug in Hoseok’s hands slips, smashing on the ground loudly at Hoseok’s feet though neither react.  
  
Kihyun was potentially orphaned by vampires. By his kind. Hell, could have been orphaned by vampires that his Coven _knows_ and even _associates_ with. Everything had been taken from him by the very thing that Hoseok _is,_ but here he is, in a place that so clearly means so much to Kihyun, being told about the most painful moment of his life.  
  
And Hoseok realizes that even after five hundred years on Earth, he can never truly understand the human mind, can never understand why they do what they do.  
  
“I’m sorry,” Hoseok breathes, and whether for the mug or his family’s deaths or both, he isn’t quite sure. All he knows is he can feel tears welling in his eyes, reaches to wipe them away and finds the same familiar red streak of blood on his sleeve.  
  
“It wasn’t your fault,” Kihyun responds, whether about the mug or his family or both, he doesn’t know either. But when Kihyun turns, his face is like stone, no tears present, no frown, no sadness in his eyes. Just acceptance. That seems to be the moment he actually realizes the mug smashed and crouches down, just as Hoseok does. Wordlessly the two begin picking up the pieces, but after a second Hoseok stops, looking at Kihyun who is just centimeters away.  
  
“After all of that… what my kind might have to you… what we might have from you, why trust me?” He asks slowly, watching Kihyun’s face for any sign of what he’s thinking, feeling. His face is like a blank slate. Finally he looks up, meets Hoseok’s eyes and they’re _so close together_ that Hoseok is sure he feels goosebumps whether they’re possible or not.  
  
“Sometimes I think people wind up… programmed a bit wrong. They become attracted to - interested in - the things they’re supposed to hate,” Kihyun says with little other elaboration and Hoseok simply _stares_. Silence. There’s a pause before Kihyun smiles a little, a faint ghost of something closer to disbelief than amusement.  
  
“And you have to remember, up until ten years ago, no one knew vampires existed. I grew up thinking it was some crazy axe murderer or something. Then once your existance became public… I don’t know. I was still mad at _who_ had done it, not _what_ had done it,” Kihyun fades off, but clearly has more to say.  
  
“...When Changkyun attacked me, you saved me,” he begins slowly, “And then… when I was bleeding… you were thirsty. I could see it in your eyes. Your eyes were like his. Red. But you didn’t bite me. You helped me,” a pause, he picks up a few more pieces, “ And the way you look at me. I don’t understand it, the look in your eye, but you don’t look at me like prey. You look at me with…” he stops, as if what he’s about to say is almost impossible, “... _love_.”  
  
Hoseok feels himself shiver at the word, at all it means to him, at all the applications it has to Kihyun, to _parts_ of Kihyun. Hoseok looks away, almost ashamed, but he can still feel Kihyun’s eyes on him. The human laughs a little under his breath, goes back to picking up the final shards when he gasps, a few of the pieces raining back to the ground. Hoseok can smell it before he sees it, warm and rich and all-encompassing. Blood. Kihyun has cut himself on one of the shards and Hoseok’s eyes immediately snap back to him, eyes wide. When Kihyun looks up at him, his eyes widen, fear there, and Hoseok knows what he must see: eyes blown red with bloodlust. He takes a shaky breath, closes his eyes, shakes his head, and tries to ground himself. He’s not that desperate for blood. Not now. Not from Kihyun. Never from Kihyun. He lets out another shaky breath, more a coping mechanism than a biological necessity, and opens his eyes again. Kihyun is still staring at him.  
  
“Y-You should bandage that up,” Hoseok says quickly, getting to his feet as if off to look for a first aid kit he doesn’t even know the location of. Kihyun also hoists himself to his feet, if not a bit shakily, and Hoseok instinctively grabs his arms to steady him. For a moment they just meet eyes, Hoseok’s red and Kihyun’s brown.  
  
“You’re thirsty,” Kihyun says slowly, less a question, more a statement.  
  
Hoseok nods slowly, unable to find it in himself to lie to him.  
  
“Don’t you want to-"  
  
“ _No_ ,” Hoseok cuts him off firmly, looking away, biting at his lip hard enough that one of his fangs cuts his lip, draws a simply dark drop of his own blood. He’s breathing heavily now, muttering softly to himself, things Kihyun can’t understand. He turns his back to Kihyun.  
  
“Please. Please go bandage it.”  
  
There’s silence. Kihyun doesn’t move and Hoseok can smell his blood, hear his heartbeat overwhelming all other sounds. Then slowly he turns to leave, crunching over the broken porcelain as he works his way to the back room. Once he’s gone, Hoseok shakily leans against a nearby wall, feeling positively sick. He’s past the point of dehydration, knows he needs to drink soon or run the risk of losing bits and pieces of his sanity. That’s what bloodlust does: strips their humanity, leaving just the creature that civilized mask hides so well. If he doesn’t drink before the sun rises, he’ll start falling into the tamest parts of madness.  
  
But not with Kihyun, never Kihyun.  
  
Hoseok is very good at what he does when he feeds. He never takes more than he needs, never kills. He’s spent the past centuries being very strict about that. But the thought of accidentally harming (or worse: _killing_ ) Kihyun… he’s not sure he would be able to live with himself after that.  
  
After what feels like an eternity, Kihyun appears again, finger bandaged (though Hoseok can still smell his blood, muted now) and a broom and dustpan in hand.  
  
Silence. They stare one another down.  
  
“...Sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable,” Hoseok says slowly and is surprised when Kihyun laughs.  
  
“I was about to say the same damn thing,” he admits, rubbing his eyes in disbelief. And when Hoseok stops and thinks about it, the situation is pretty funny.  
  
A vampire apologizing for wanting blood.  
  
A human apologizing for bleeding.  
  
Two beings apologizing for their sheer nature in the face of possibly offending one another. Hoseok tucks his head down, looks back at the display of mugs, then thrusts his arm out, hand open. Kihyun stares, tilts his head to the side, and after a moment, Hoseok peers at him out of the side of his eye.  
  
“I broke it,” he reasons quietly, “I’ll clean it up.”  
  
He makes a grabby motion for the broom and dustpan and Kihyun continues to stare, an impossible expression fluttering his face before he just nods, hands it over, the warmth of his fingers brushing the stone of Hoseok’s skin.  
  
“I’ll… um… make us something to drink. Then we can talk,” Kihyun says, watching Hoseok for a moment before he turns, making his way towards the small espresso bar tucked in the opposite corner of the cafe. Hoseok watches, tries to hide it by pretending to be preoccupied with prying the dustpan from the broom and cleaning, but he can’t seem to stop glancing up, magnetized.  
  
“What do you want?” he asks a bit shyly and Hoseok smiles.  
  
“Whatever you make best.”  
  
Kihyun’s head ducks away behind the machine for a moment, hiding, before he clears his throat, straightens, and nods.  
  
Steam screeches into the air as Kihyun purges the espresso machine’s steam wand, he pauses to think, then gets to work, enveloped in small bursts of steam and the grind of espresso beans. Hoseok sees him poke his tongue between his lips in concentration as he steams milk and, if it still beat, perhaps his heart would flutter. Just a bit.  
  
He finishes sweeping the shards away, particularly careful to avoid as much as looking at the one stained with Kihyun’s blood, and deposits the pieces into a nearby trash can, turning just when Kihyun is delicately placing a mug into the bar above the machine, looking up to meet Hoseok’s gaze. He nods towards it almost eagerly, expectantly, and Hoseok ambles over, sitting on the stool across the small bar. The latte sitting there is carefully poured, a perfect Rosetta gleaming up at him in the dim light. He feels himself smile, looks up, and smiles more, eyes crinkling at the way Kihyun looks so incredibly nervous, watching him like he’s just handed over his life’s work.  
  
Hoseok takes a sip and smiles again, but doesn’t elaborate, leaving Kihyun frowning.  
  
“Is it bad?”  
  
“...No. It’s… this is embarrassing,” Hoseok sighs, rubbing his eyes as he grins and them peers down at the latte again, almost with longing, “but I can’t really taste it.”  
  
Surprise makes Kihyun’s hand heavy where it rests on the steam wand lever and it belches steam again, fluttering his bangs. He nearly bounds back in surprise, but shuts it off and stares at Hoseok.  
  
“What?”  
  
“I can’t taste human food. Or drinks. I don’t know, maybe it’s something evolutionary to vampires,” he shrugs, like it’s the most nonchalant thing in the world, “We only need blood. Why would we need to be able to taste other things?”  
  
“So when you became a vampire, you just,” Kihyun pauses to find the words, “ _stopped being able to taste_?”  
  
Hoseok shrugs, “Really, it’s the only sense that didn’t become stronger.”  
  
Kihyun seems to think about this for a moment before something catches his mind and he leans away from the espresso machine, leans closer to Hoseok.  
  
“But last night. The hot chocolate. You had one too.”  
  
Again, fondness flutters in Hoseok’s chest, uncontrollable, effortless.  
  
“It made me feel a bit more… human,” he admits, looks embarrassed again, peers back at the mug in his hands with a smile that softens substantially, “...It was nice to pretend. Just for a bit.”  
  
Kihyun watches Hoseok, the silence heavy between them before his own thoughts seem to catch up with him and he averts his eyes. He sets about getting busy, preparing his own drink, but glances up through his lashes every so often to watch Hoseok. Kihyun’s lips set into a pout, he opens his mouth to ask a question, changes his mind, then changes his mind again.  
  
“Do you miss it? Being human?”  
  
“More than anything,” Hoseok says without hesitation and Kihyun cannot help but feel utterly consumed with just how _sad_ that is. He’s never given much thought to how a vampire would feel about being a vampire, never really found it relevant. And maybe part of him had always assumed that vampires became what they became by _choice_.  
  
Until he met Hoseok.  
  
Everything is different with Hoseok.  
  
“I’m sorry,” he says and isn’t quite sure why. It’s as if a voice that isn’t even his boils up from his chest and speaks from his lips, words he feels so compelled to say but doesn’t even know why. Hoseok is looking at him again, this time in surprise.  
  
Kihyun finishes his drink with a flourish, a soft, flowing pattern in the milk foam, but as he pulls the pitcher away he breathes in sharply through his teeth. Hoseok’s eyebrows raise, concern obvious, and he sets the cup back down softly.  
  
“You okay?”  
  
Kihyun nods and sighs, shaking out his wrist.  
  
“Yeah. It’s a common injury with baristas. Carpal Tunnel. Usually I wear a brace but-” Kihyun’s words fade when Hoseok holds out his hands, looking at Kihyun expectantly. The confusion is clear in Kihyun’s face, but reardless, he holds out his hand. Hoseok takes it between his own, cold fingers probing over his wrist before suddenly Kihyun is feeling that warmth again from nights ago. A sensation that almost feels like pure sunlight on his skin and then… the sensation of wholeness, of well-being.  
  
He doesn’t miss the way Hoseok blinks a bit sleepily after the feat, which causes Kihyun concern, but it’s only a moment later he realizes Hoseok hasn’t let go of his hand. The vampire seems to realize this and quickly draws away, awkwardly coughing before he picks up his drink again.  
  
“That should help,” he says conversationally, as if he hadn’t just healed a condition that’s been bothering Kihyun for all the years he has had this job. But there is something else there. His voice is a bit breathy, drawn.  
  
“Are you okay?” Kihyun asks quietly, eyes never once leaving his face. He catches his eyes shift color wildly. For a moment they’re red, but Hoseok closes his eyes for a moment, appears to ground himself, and when they open again, they’re brown.  
  
“Yeah, fine. It just… takes a lot out of me. The healing.” Hoseok brushes it off. Suddenly the cut on Kihyun’s finger - even bandaged and no longer bleeding- if all he can think about. The fact that he’s so close to a living, breathing, _bleeding_ human being and it would be so easy to -  
  
Hoseok stops himself there, shakes his head, and is suddenly getting to his feet much to Kihyun’s surprise.  
  
“Are you leaving?” he demands and it’s not harsh, rather almost kind of… desperate. Kihyun isn’t ready for him to go. And Hoseok isn’t ready to go either, but the need to leave is too great. The potential danger for Kihyun if he stays is unacceptable.  
  
“I need to,” Hoseok says apologetically, trying to flash a soft smile at Kihyun, but Kihyun freezes. Prodding with his tongue, he quickly realizes his fangs have extended, something he usually had perfect control over. It’s a testament just to how far that last healing has pushed him.  
  
Kihyun nods at the sight of the fangs, making his way around the bar to unlock the front door so he can leave. Hoseok is at his side almost immediately, not as close as he would like to be, but still surprisingly close despite the threat.  
  
They stand in silence for a long moment.  
  
“Same time tomorrow?” Hoseok suddenly asks and Kihyun looks surprised, if not a little delighted. He nods.  
  
“Yeah, same time tomorrow” Kihyun says with a smile as he watches Hoseok leave. He closes and locks the door behind him and goes back to clean up the bar, twisting his healed wrist with a smile as he does.

  
  
  
  


**[THE COVEN]**

**  
** [12:45am]

  
  


**Hyukie (◕‿◕✿)  
** Hoseok Hyung, you here?

**Hulk Hyung  
** In the chat, yes. At home, no.  
But I’m on my way.

**Hyukie (◕‿◕✿)  
** We need to talk about Ψ( ﾟ∀ﾟ)Ψ

**Hyunwoo  
** ???

**Honeybeat  
** ?

**Offline [But Probably Online]  
** What is that even supposed to be?

**Hyukie (◕‿◕✿)  
** It’s Changkyun

**Hulk Hyung  
** Are those pitchfork hands?

**Hyukie (◕‿◕✿)  
** Yep.

**Offline [But Probably Online]  
** Oh  
I see it now.

**Hulk Hyung  
** Oddly accurate.

**Honeybeat  
** Uncanny.

**Hyunwoo  
** But what about him?

**Hyukie (◕‿◕✿)  
** He’s been waiting by the door for Hoseok like a lost puppy  
I think he wants to come hunting with us.  
Is that okay?

**Hyunwoo  
** Two new vampires might be a lot, especially when Hoseok’s a thirsty as he is.

**Hulk Hyung  
** It’s fine  
I’ll be fine.  
I’ll be there in ten. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for such a short chapter. I figured I owed you guys something. ;; <3
> 
> Please come hang out with me on [ my Twitter](https://twitter.com/neonnightlites)! <3  
> I post spoilers and just generally sob about MX ;; <3


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hoseok finally has to face the consequences of not feeding for so long and the plot finally kicks off...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From this point on, the fic will be getting darker. I will be changing the rating to M for blood and violence. Still I hope you enjoy!

True to what Minhyuk had said, Changkyun is waiting by the door (albeit in a chair and not completely puppy-like) for Hoseok to get home. When the door swings open, the younger vampire leaps to his feet, grin blinding, apparently ready to leave that very second. Instead, Hoseok shuts the door behind him and Changkyun seems to wilt just a bit  
  
“I’m _thirsty_ ,” he complains and the tone is a little whiny. Hoseok rolls his eyes but turns, regarding the younger vampire  
  
“You’ll be just as thirsty in ten minutes while I collect Minhyuk and check in with Hyunwoo,” Hoseok says simply, the faintest hint of a scolding in his tone, but Changkyun doesn’t seem to hear it. He just sighs moodily and slumps back into his chair, pulling out his phone.  
  
Hoseok takes that as his sign to leave.  
  
He leaves the entrance hall, entering the spacious living room. It’s almost humorously modern, all sleek steel and white marble and minimalist bullshit. It seems very much unlike the kind of dark, decrepit, ancient hovel most humans would assume vampires would flock to. Just because (most of them) are hundreds of years old doesn’t mean they aren’t allowed to have modern taste. In fact, Hoseok quite likes the odd juxtaposition of such ancient beings living among such new cutting-edge amenities. With just a push of a button, all of the windows in the house could be immediately blacked out, making the entirety of the home safe after the sun rose. However older vampires (like Hoseok himself) found it impossible to stay awake come sunrise. The blacking out of the entire house was more for the younger members of the coven, those who could still sleepily shuffle around for the first few hours before the rays of the sun became too much and they too were forced to retire.  
  
Hoseok finds Hyunwoo in the living room, watching a nature documentary with surprising intensity. Initially he doesn’t notice he’s no longer alone, but when Hoseok clears his throat, he statles a bit, immediately flips the TV off.  
  
“I’m taking the kids hunting like I promised,” Hoseok says and even then he can hear how exhausted, stretched thin, he must sound. Hyunwoo regards him carefully for a moment before he stands, pacing a small circle around Hoseok, analyzing him. He stops when he faces him again.  
  
“...You sure you can handle it? You look… worse than when you left. Did something else happen?”  
  
Hoseok thinks for a moment. He’s always been perfectly honest with Hyunwoo, has never had a reason to lie. Hyunwoo is his maker, his savior, and his closest friend. But suddenly, something in the back of his mind is telling him to withhold the fact he once again healed Kihyun. A nagging voice in the back of his head urges him to keep it a secret, so he does.  
  
“No,” he lies seamlessly, “Nothing happened. It just hit me a bit harder than I expected.”  
  
Hyunwoo doesn’t seem convinced by that, but doesn’t push it. Hoseok can almost see him mentally file it for a later conversation, though.  
  
“So I’m going to go the-”  
  
“Did you talk to Kihyun?”  
  
Hoseok blinks at the question, eyebrow raising a bit in confusion. Hyunwoo sighs.  
  
“Our conversation, Hoseok. About… about his eyes. Your thoughts about reincarnation. Your thoughts that he might be-”  
  
“No,” Hoseok says simply, cutting him off, turning a bit so he doesn’t have to look Hyunwoo in the eye. He picks at the bottom of his jacket anxiously, “...It didn’t come up and then I had to leave.”  
  
“...Meaning you got too nervous to bring it up.”  
  
Hoseok sighs, hating that Hyunwoo can read him so well. He nods.  
  
“I’ll try again soon, I promise. I know it’s important.”  
  
Hyunwoo nods then sighs, “I only ask because it’s clearly important to you. This is a big thing, Hoseok. What if… what if it could be a reincarnation? What if you can have a second chance at what you lost?”  
  
Hoseok’s blood runs just a little colder than it always does at the thought. He hadn’t truly thought of that, just thought that the eyes of his dead lover suddenly being found staring back at him in the form of Kihyun was overwhelming enough. But if Kihyun was a true reincarnation-  
  
It makes him feel conflicted. His lover died centuries ago, so long ago that, try as he had, his name has been lost to time. Kihyun is his now, his present. He wants to think any feelings he may be developing for the man are solely based on who he is and how he makes him feel, not because of some cosmic predisposition.  
  
And Kihyun feels… different. There is something there he had never experienced all of those centuries ago. Something he cannot quite yet put his finger on.  
  
“I don’t think there’s such a thing as a second chance at that. And I don’t want to treat Kihyun as such. He’s his own person. I think for now, that’s how I want to approach this.”  
  
“So… will you tell him or not?” Hyunwoo finally asks, looking a bit tired.  
  
“...Maybe,” Hoseok responds, suddenly not feeling as convinced, he sighs, “I’ll have to give it some thought.”  
  
Hyunwoo sighs as well before glancing at the clock on the wall. It’s approaching 1AM.  
  
“I’ve held you back long enough. Go on. The kids are hungry and you are too,” a pause, Hyunwoo watches Hoseok with a scrutinizing expression, “But be careful. I know your self-control is almost god-like among our kind, but I’ve never seen you look this desperate to feed. Have Minhyuk and Changkyun feed first, that way they can support you if need be.”  
  
Hoseok knows what he means by ‘support’. He means ‘they can pry you off of some poor soul before you kill them when you lose yourself to blood-lust.”  
  
Hoseok tries to fight off the shame he feels. He should have fed sooner, been less reckless. He shouldn’t have healed Kihyun, but seeing the man in pain hurt more than a stake to the heart.  
  
Hoseok bows his head respectfully - afterall, Hyunwoo is, still, his Sire- and turns, leading off after their two youngest.  
  
By the time Hoseok makes it back to the front hall, Minhyuk has joined Changkyun and is bouncing on his heels, just as excited as the younger vampire at the prospect of hunting.  
  
“Ready?” Minhyuk asks excitedly. Hoseok sighs and it’s both exhausted and impossibly fond.  
  
“All right. Let’s get going,” he says and Changkyun springs from his chair eagerly. He fondly messes their maknae’s hair before they head out for the night.

They choose a hunting spot at the edge of their territory, a clubbing district that, for them, is the easiest place to hunt (though also one of the riskiest). Because there are more people around, there’s a higher chance of them being seen. Them being seen means a call to the VCU - Vampiric Control Unit - and the last thing one of them wants is a showdown with an overly zealous hunter turned ‘vampire cop’. Though their kind has been public knowledge for ten years now, they are still the ultimate taboo and everything they do to survive breaks obvious human laws. Getting caught by patrols is perhaps the worst thing that can happen to a vampire. Silver lined cages and chains, being starved past blood-lust as a form of torture so the VCU can try and gather Intel. There are even rumors of mass stakings and burnings.  
  
Humanity has not shown any interest in working with Vampires. In the wake of how their kind have been treated, the feeling is mutual.  
  
“Keep your eyes peeled for squads canvassing the area,” Hoseok warns the other two as they wait at the top of a small three-story building across from one of the first clubs they’re targeting. Even from a distance, Hoseok can make out each person leaving the club: some in groups, others solo. They’re looking for the latter, people stumbling drunkenly away from the safety of the lights, someone easy to grab and pull into an alley.  
  
Yes, Hoseok understands what they do is not ideal or moral, but everything they do is necessary for their survival. Feeders were once an option, but recent legislation has made willingly being a living donor to vampires a felony, meaning the available pool of consenting feeders is… nearly non-existent. Of those that do exist, nearly all of them are pledged to one sole vampire. It’s a sacred bond, something   
  
So they hunt. However, they have one non-negotiable rule: they do not kill under any circumstances. Save for one minor accident during Minhyuk’s first feeding, both younger vampires are clean. As for Hoseok, he had killed his victims for quite some time before pledging to no longer kill to feed. Back then he had been so angry in the wake of the loss of his morality that the prospect of others having what he could not have... but that had been centuries ago. He had made peace with what he had become. Hyunwoo had abstained for even longer. The fact they needed to drink blood to survive didn’t have to make them monsters. Unfortunately, very few vampires beyond their coven actually feel that way.  
  
When he glances back at the other two, Changkyun seems to have completely tuned out Hoseok’s instructions whilst Minhyuk is leaning over the edge of the building, peering down curiously. Were it not for the fact he knew Minhyuk had an inhuman sense of balance, he would be snapping at him to move back. Some habits don’t die even after hundreds of years of being undead.  
  
“What do you think, Minhyuk? Any hunters out?” Hoseok asks conversationally, but watches the man carefully. Minhyuk is young. He’s acclimated so quickly to their lifestyle that sometimes it’s very easy to forget that just two years ago, he’d been human. And not just any human: a hunter. Without a doubt, he’d been a perfect addition to their Coven. He had brought with him an impossible number of secrets, an impossibly priceless insight into one of the countless things out to kill them.  
  
Minhyuk shakes his head.  
  
“I can usually sense their runes. They use old magic when they hunt. They use it to mark out quadrants. If a rune is triggered, they know a vampire is in the quadrant,” he sighs, straightens, walks along the ledge, gently sweeping one leg over the edge, finding solace in the nothingness beneath him. He pauses, glances back at Hoseok, “I don’t sense any now. Not here.”  
  
Changkyun is watching Minhyuk with wide eyes. Minhyuk speaks so seldom about his past to anyone but Hyungwon, Hoseok, and Hyunwoo, who had all been a part of it. He knows the basics: Minhyuk grew up in a family of hunters, was raised learning to track and kill vampires. He one day met Hyungwon, his newest target, but that’s where things get fuzzy. No one has ever told him the entire story. All he knows is now Minhyuk is one of them and Hyungwon is the one that turned him. He’s seen the looks they give one another, the silent warmth when cold eyes meet, and he can’t help but wonder how on earth a vampire and a hunter fell in love in the first place.  
  
It makes even less sense when he considers a hunter allowing himself to be turned.  
  
But their entire Coven is one odd mishmash of the unexplained. He’s slowly growing used to it.  
  
Hoseok is nodding thoughtfully at Minhyuk’s words, but Changkyun catches sight of his fingers drumming erratically on his thigh. For the entirety of the evening, his eyes have been a bit out of focus and there have been a couple of times where he could have _sworn_ he caught glints of Hoseok’s fangs, very unlike him as he always kept them neatly hidden away. Even now, Hoseok’s eyes are flashing manically between red and brown, something he clearly cannot control, and it concerns the younger vampire.  
  
“Hyung,” he says slowly, standing up from where he was sitting on the ledge near Minhyuk. Hoseok blinks, takes a moment to realize he’s been called, then looks, “Do you want to go first? You really look like you could need-”  
  
“No,” Hoseok cuts him off, if not a little curtly. He seems to catch his tone and smiles apologetically, the expression almost impossibly soft. Chagnkyun just stares at him with wide eyes and Hoseok just tries to figure out the best way to explain to him how overwhelmed with blood-lust he is without admitting it in the slightest. The need for blood almost has him feeling like he’s losing his grasp on reality and he knows without backup, the second his fangs puncture a neck, he won’t be able to stop himself. He will kill. And that thought horrifies him.  
  
“No. Minhyuk is first. Changkyun, you’ll shadow him in the off chance there’s some kind of issue,” Minhyuk nods at his name but is still staring down below. Based on the sudden fixation in his gaze, it’s clear he’s found a potential mark. There’s something about his expression that reminds Hoseok of a cat with a mouse, the very corners of his lips curled into the faintest smile.  
  
“Then Changkyun, you’re next. Minhyuk will shadow you and make sure you don’t take too much. You’re still learning. He’ll help you,” Hoseok continues, realizing his voice is a bit shaky. He prays neither of them notice. Based on the look Changkyun gives him, he does.  
  
“And you, Hyung?” Changkyun asks, watching with sharp eyes. Hoseok wishes he would stop. It’s embarrassing to him, honestly. He’s ancient, one of the oldest vampires living in the city, and he’s allowed himself to get to the very edges of blood-lust. He’s usually effortless in staying perfectly sated, perfectly lucid. But in this instance, he realizes he can’t save face. He sighs.  
  
“Once you two are full, I’ll need you to support me,” he admits and for the first time, Minhyuk is looking at him as well, “...I waited too long to drink. And I used my abilities more than I usually do. It drained me a bit too much. So when I feed,” he pauses, a bit embarrassed, “...I’m not sure how my self-control is going to be tonight.”  
  
Minhyuk and Changkyun exchange a look before they simply nod.  
  
“Alright,” Changkyun agrees and, much to Hoseok’s relief, they ask no further questions.  
  
“I think I got one,” Minhyuk says, back peering over the side of the building. He’s gazing into the distance, but Hoseok knows with his eyesight he could be seeing a couple of blocks away, “One female, alone. Possibly intoxicated. She’s on her phone. Distracted.”

Minhyuk’s fangs extend as he speaks, gleaming softly in the moonlight above. His eyes are beginning to fade to red as his instinctive side, the side that always bays for blood, takes hold.  
  
“Go, then. I’ll be here,” Hoseok says, waving them off, watching as Minhyuk leaps over the side of the building and out of sight. Changkyun, on the other hand, hesitates, watching Hoseok carefully before the older man scowls, causing him to bound after his friend.  
  
Hoseok sighs, relishes in the silence as he rubs his eyes. It’s hard to lie to his Coven, hard to downplay the things he’s experiencing and why. Truth be told, it’s his own fault he’s so thirsty and he knows he has no one to blame but himself for any suffering he’s experiencing in the wake of his actions.  
  
And he knows he has no one to blame for anything he may do in that blood-lust.  
  
As he stands beneath the stars, his thoughts go to Kihyun and he takes a moment to dissect _why_. He’s only known the man for a matter of days, moments that somehow feel stolen from the universe, two beings so different yet inexplicably brought together.  
  
The scent of blood seeps into the night, reaching his nose from even blocks away. Hoseok feels a growl erupt in his throat, that feral side trying to claw its way out. He feels himself shake, resists the urge to take off after the scent by crouching down, running his hands anxiously through his hair. Minhyuk has clearly found his mark, is feeding now, which means he’s one step closer to being able to feed himself. It takes a substantial amount of self control to not leap from the top of the building, hit the concrete running, and chase down the scent. So he waits, fingers digging sharply into his jeans, the faintest traces of his nails growing and punching small holes into the fabric like claws. He breathes slowly, deeply - more a formality than a biological necessity. No, it’s been a long, long time since he’s been this far gone. Centuries even.  
  
It’s no one’s fault but his own.  
  
With the icy breeze comes Hoseok’s thoughts of Kihyun, brief wonderings of what he’s doing now, if he is still at the cafe or has made it home safely, if he’s asleep, getting in those few hours before he has to be back at work come the dawn. He contemplates pulling out his phone, texting him, but as he reaches for his pocket Changkyun is suddenly bounding back up to the rooftop again. His hair is a bit out of place from both the jump and the wind. Hoseok raises an eyebrow questioningly. He has a faint smudge of blood on his mouth and at Hoseok’s skeptical look, he sheepishly wipes it away.  
  
“Two-for-one-special,” Changkyun says simply and Hoseok scowls. As many things as he’s been able to train out of the fledgling vampire, his stupid (yet dark) sense of humor has been one thing that won’t budge. So he simply stares, waiting for Changkyun to elaborate.  
  
“We came across two, not one, and were able to glamor the second to wait long enough for Minhyuk to finish. Then I fed. Minhyuk’s off following another lead so he should have something for you in a minute,” Changkyun explains and Hoseok does note how sated he looks, how serene. His eyes seem to shine when he’s full, smile soft and content.  
  
Hoseok nods, cracks his neck, and glances off into the distance, trying to follow the distinctive scent of Minhyuk to figure out which way he’s headed. Each of them have a slightly different scent; it makes keeping track of the Coven even easier.  
  
“Should we go?” Changkyun asks, inclining his head towards the ledge of the building. Hoseok would have to be blind to miss the brief flash of uncertainty there. He sighs, walking over to the fledgling and patting his shoulder comfortingly, meeting his eyes.  
  
“Yeah, and it’ll be fine. I promise,” he says kindly, as warmly as he can muster despite the fact his mind is churning, set on only one thought: blood.  
  
Hoseok turns towards the ledge when he’s suddenly stopped by Changkyun’s hand on his sleeve. He turns back, confused, and the man isn’t looking at him, kicking at a broken chunk of concrete.  
  
“...Do you really think you’ll lose control?” he asks quietly, but clearly tries to keep his voice casual, conversational, doesn’t want to betray his fear.  
  
Hoseok wants to say no, wants to play the part of the infallible mentor, the ancient vampire who has centuries of experience and little to no mistakes under his belt. He wants Changkyun took look at him and not just see confidence, but feel it himself. He wants Changkyun to see him and see the control that he one day will have. So the prospect of losing himself, even just a little in the presence of a man that looks up to him in so many ways… it scares him. Because he knows losing himself to the blood-lust, losing his humanity, won’t just scar him, but the younger members of his coven as well. It’s the main reason he hates himself so much for putting himself in this position.  
  
Lying to Changkyun, however, is unthinkable. From day one of his change, he’s given Hoseok his absolute trust, put his life and fate in his hands. And as much as Hoseok wants to give into his ego, say everything will go as planned… he can’t.  
  
“...It’s possible,” Hoseok sighs, glancing away over the city skyline. Fog is beginning to sink in, envelop the streets and skyscrapers of distant districts. Glancing up, he misses the days back when he could see the stars, misses how they seemed to gleam brightly enough to envy the moon. Now they’re grayed out by artificial light, leaving the sky flat, lifeless.  
  
“...How bad-”  
  
“Just make sure I don’t kill,” he says sharply, feeling bad at cutting Changkyun off, but the words demand to be said and said immediately, “I don’t care what you have to do to make that happen. I don’t care if you hurt me. I don’t care if you _kill me_ , but you _do not let me kill_.”  
  
He turns to Changkyun now to meet his eye, brows lowered, gaze sharp, just to show how serious he is. Changkyun looks a little scared, doesn’t bother to hide it, knows Hoseok will be able to smell it on him. Instead he just nods, finally letting go of Hoseok’s sleeve.  
  
“I will. I promise,” he says and it’s a bit shaky and Hoseok feels _guilt_. Changkyun is still so new to all of this. One day he died and woke up to a life of horrors. He hates to be the one that contributes one more.  
  
Hoseok flashes a smile and it’s genuine.  
  
“Come on, let’s go. Minhyuk’s great with glamouring, but it can get exhausting after a while,” he says, tries to say it breezily, simply, as if they aren’t potentially about to run into a major problem.  
  
He glances over the ledge of the building, peering up and down the street. There are a couple of stragglers by the club across the street, but no one else. He jumps, gracefully landing stories below, hidden in the shadows. Changkyun lands beside him, a bit less gracefully, but he’s improving and that thought makes Hoseok feel a bit of warmth blossom in his chest.  
  
“Lead the way,” Hoseok tells him, though, Hoseok can smell a trail to Minhyuk clear as day. At the prospect of leading, Changkyun looks ecstatic, glances around, and motions to his left. Dressed as they are in dark coats, hoods raised, no one they pass would give them a second glance. There’s also something about their nature that allows them to more or less absorb into shadows, become one with the darkness beneath overhangs and shadowy doorways. Changkyun takes him a few blocks south before pausing at the mouth of an alley. He peers in, clearly sees Minhyuk, then looks at Hoseok.  
  
“...Minhyuk has him glamoured. It’ll be easy,” Changkyun says, though he doesn’t sound convinced. Hoseok simply nods, walks into the alley, and finds Minhyuk sitting cross-legged on the grimy alley floor. Sitting before him, eyes glassy, is a man clearly dressed for one of the clubs down the street. Minhyuk doesn’t look up, keeping eye contact with the man, keeping the glamouring going, but motions for Hoseok to approach.  
  
He freezes, surprised by the sudden cold wave of fear he feels. For a moment he thinks it’s fear for what’s about to happen, but something is off, it’s another instinct screaming inside his head. He looks over at Changkyun, about to say something, when his phone goes off in his pocket. The sound is shrill and draws even Minhyuk’s eyes and suddenly the glamour on the man before him breaks and he starts drunkenly staggering to his feet. A second later he lashes out at Minhyuk, desperately, but in one smooth motion the vampire has his hand around his neck, shoving him backward hard against the wall behind him. He keeps his fingers light, maybe enough to bruise, but not enough to kill.  
  
“Hyung,” Minhyuk says sharply and Hoseok peers at him for a moment before there it is again, the sound of his cellphone. He pulls it from his pocket and Changkyun is suddenly ripping it from his fingers, face apologetic, but stony.  
  
“This isn’t the time,” he says simply.  
  
“And this is getting exhausting for me,” Minhyuk adds, meaning the glamour. The older he gets, the easier it will be for him to use his abilities in excess. It’s clear his control is beginning to waver based on the fact that the man’s head is tipping to the side, he’s fighting it, managing to get glimpses of things that aren’t Minhyuk’s eyes.  
  
“It could be an emergency,” Hoseok says quietly, because on any other night, he would ignore his phone, focus on the hunt. But there’s a feeling of unease growing in his gut that something isn’t right. Something is terribly not right. And his mind immediately goes to Kihyun, goes to him potentially being in danger, goes to-  
  
The scent of blood permeates the air and Hoseok’s mind stops dead, lucid thoughts dripping from his brain like the blood from the cut Minhyuk has just sliced shallowly into the man’s neck. This thirsty, it’s impossible to ignore. This thirsty, that blood becomes all he has.  
  
Before he even knows what he’s doing, he’s shoving Minhyuk out of the way, roughly enough that the younger vampire staggers a few feet, eyes wide. Hoseok’s eyes meet his victim’s, see a flash of fear before his own glamour takes over and his gaze, once again, unfocuses. His hands find the man’s arms, nails beginning to grow like claws as his fangs extend. There is nothing in his mind but survival. Nothing.  
  
His eyes watch the way a single drop of blood runs down the man’s neck and suddenly he lunges forward, slotting himself against him, fangs bared and pricking the delicate skin of his throat. He’s just about to bite, fighting the very feral urge to simply snap the man’s neck entirely, to crush the bones in the arms he holds, but a soft voice in the back of his head, _himself_ , stops him from giving into that feral nature.  
  
His breath plays along the skin of the man’s neck for a long moment and he closes his eyes, savoring the scent of blood, the warm pulse of an artery just millimeters from the razor point of his fang.  
  
When he sinks his fangs into the man’s neck, it’s lightning quick and merciless, like a vice, and the man would scream were it not for the fact he was so lost in the twilight of Hoseok’s glamour. A moment passes, the endorphins that follow all vampire bites suddenly kicks in and the man moans, goes limp in his arms, though Hoseok barely notices. He’s so impossibly thirsty, thirstier than he’s been in decades- no, centuries- and that darkness in him has every intention of drinking this man dry.  
  
He’s managed two mouthfuls, unable to help but moan against the man’s neck, when he hears the others behind him.  
  
“It’s from Kihyun,” Changkyun whispers to Minhyuk, having clearly checked Hoseok’s phone, probably not thinking Hoseok will hear him in the throes of his own bloodlust. But he does. And a war begins in his mind; himself - Hoseok - versus the monster that inhabits the darkest crevices of his being, a creature that prioritizes survival at any cost. His literal inner demon. The creature that’s kept him alive all of these centuries.  
  
He leans back a little, breathes shakily, watches a four drops of blood mark crimson trails down the man’s neck. His muscles are tense, overextended, fingers nearly twitching in the effort it takes not to move, not to lunge back in, not continue to drink.  
  
“What about Kihyun?” He asks and there’s something about his voice that _scares_ him. He can feel the warmth of blood dripping over his teeth and lips, some drops splattering his shirt, others hitting the concrete below. His voice sounds nothing like what he’s used to: it’s dark, gravelly, _lethal_. A predator. He’s in his apex predator mode and every moment he doesn’t feed leaves him feeling like every cell in his body is angrily vibrating.  
  
“I don’t know if this is the time-”  
  
“ _What does it say?”_ Hoseok snaps and when he does, there’s power in it, old magic that comes with the territory of being a centuries’ old vampire. The force of his words ripple the air, leaving the other two staring.  
  
“H-He asked if you know where he lives,” Changkyun stammers, though it’s clear from the look on his face he doesn’t understand why he’s so shaken. He’s never experienced that kind of sheer show of power before and it’s left him reeling. Minhyuk reaches out, steadies him, takes the phone from him. And when he glances at the messages, his eyes widen in panic.  
  
“...Hoseok, you should really feed first,” Minhyuk says slowly, “You barely drank anything-”  
  
There’s something in Minhyuk’s tone, blood-lust or no blood-lust, that has him leaning away, hands still planting the man against the wall. He stares forward for a moment, battling himself.  
  
“Why did he ask if I know where he lives?” he finally asks, voice coming from the back of his throat, half growl and half him. He shakes his head, tries to clear the fog that bogs down his thoughts, tries to become _Hoseok_.  
  
_He needs to be Hoseok._  
  
_When it comes to Kihyun, he has to be Hoseok_.  
  
Silence and that just makes Hoseok furious. He finally lets go of the man in his arms, allowing him to collapse to the ground, eyes wide in the wake of the endorphins and glamour and shock. Hoseok has barely fed, he’s still ravenous, but for some reason, he knows something’s wrong. He’s been able to sense it since he was standing up on that rooftop. He rounds on Minhyuk and Changkyun and there’s clearly something in his eyes that have the other two taking subconscious steps backwards. He holds out his hand for his phone and after a moment, Minhyuk hands it over.

**  
**  
[6 Message(s) - Yoo Kihyun] 

**Kihyun  
**   
Hoseok.  
  
Do you… know where I live?  
  
This is weird and I can’t explain how but I can sense there’s a vampire nearby.  
  
Here.  
  
Please tell me it’s you.  
  
Please.  
  
  
  
Hoseok glances up at the others, eyes wide and panicked, bloodlust suddenly dissolving away to panic. This is nothing short of his worst nightmare. While he isn’t sure why a vampire would go after Kihyun, he has theories. A large percentage of their kind are very adamantly against any kind of fraternizing between species, especially after the literal hunts humans have against their kind. To befriend a human for anything but feeding purposes is an ultimate taboo for them. Is it possible they were somehow seen or overheard? Had someone seen Hoseok meet Kihyun at his coffeeshop and then later followed him home. He begins typing quickly back.

**Hoseok :K  
**   
It isn’t me.  
  
Do not open the door.  
  
Send me your address.

Kihyun drops a pin of his location and Hoseok studies it, estimates running at full speed he can be there in a matter of minutes. He starts moving for the mouth of the alley and Minhyuk roughly grabs his arm, panic clear.  
  
“You can’t go to him, Hoseok. You’re _starving_. He’s human. You’ll put him in danger-”  
  
“He already is. I have to-” Hoseok is cut off by his phone buzzing again and what he sees chills him to the bone.

**[1 Message - Yoo Kihyun]  
**   


**Kihyun  
**   
It's trying to get in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cliffhanger ahoy~~
> 
> Also, please come hang out with me on my [ my Twitter](https://twitter.com/neonnightlites)! I post teasers and snippets and WIPs and love chatting with new Monbebe friends! Or just come scream at me for what I do to Kihyun and Hoseok. You know you want to.


	5. Chapter 5

When Kihyun returns home just shy of 5AM, the first thing he does is neatly set his bag on its usual hook… then flop face-down on his couch. He presses his cheek into the soft fabric and wills away the headaches and nausea that so often present when he’s this absolutely exhausted. He glances up for a moment, checks his watch, and upon realizing he’ll need to be heading back to work again in 3 hours, plants his face back to the cushion. His eyes clench shut, hard enough for him to see a field sparks behind the lids, and he sighs.  
  
It had been worth it to see Hoseok.  
  
Worth it… though he now feels even more confused by just about everything.  
  
Kihyun finally flips onto his back, staring up at the ceiling. After a moment, his arm raises, wrist twisting, arching, as he searches for that burn he’s become so used to, the occasional sharp shock when he moves it the wrong way. Nothing. His wrist feels as if he was never once tormented with chronic pain, has always been perfect and whole. It’s yet another thing to file away in his never-ending list of aspects of Hoseok that he cannot manage to make sense of.  
  
The evening feels… a bit like a dream to him. When he closes his eyes, he can still see the look in Hoseok’s eyes - the flare of red - when he cut his finger, recall the near feral look in his eyes that he clearly fought his hunger, managed to push it down. Instinctively, he knows the image should scare him, and in a way, deep in his gut, it does. But it’s Hoseok’s humanity, his constant displays of actions that fly in the face every stereotype Kihyun has about vampires, that keep that fear solely confined to his gut. And that scares him even more: The separation his mind has already placed between who Hoseok is and _what_ he is. Logically, he knows how dangerous that is.  
  
He remembers the moment he cut himself, saw those eyes and, no matter what his gut said, extended his hand, offered himself, his _blood_ , to Hoseok. Even now, the thought makes his heart skip a beat and a moment later he feels his cheeks burning in delayed embarrassment. After everything he has been through, every reason he has to hate vampires, to fear them, Hoseok is somehow different.  
  
But is he?  
  
Is he truly?  
  
Or is it just Kihyun _hoping_ he is?  
  
It’s been a conflict that has kept Kihyun awake the past few nights, the terror not from socializing with a vampire, but from _wanting to_. The terror that stems from the fact that even from day one, he’s been so quick to make exceptions for Hoseok, to say he’s different despite the fact he cannot truly know for _sure._ But logic and feeling are two different things and Kihyun realizes no matter how stupi it is, he will continue to make these concessions for Hoseok, continue to see him for _who_ he is and not _what_ he is.  
  
And when it comes to predators, that’s not exactly the best survival strategy.  
  
Kihyun reaches up, slowly undoes the bandage wrapped around his finger, winces at the way the padding tugs at the wound as he pulls it away. By this point, it has stopped bleeding, glows pink and painful on his skin, and he finds himself staring at the wound, at how such a small thing could cause such a huge change in Hoseok, how it can dredge up his true nature.  
  
That just brings his mind back to how quickly, nearly effortlessly, Hoseok had apparently shoved that nature down, almost looked a bit disgusted when Kihyun had offered him blood. As silly as it sounded, Kihyun had almost felt _offended_ to be turned down.  
  
Kihyun flushes again, shakes away the thought.  
  
As Kihyun moves to sit up again, pulling himself up on the back of the couch, he feels pressure, sharpness at the cut and when he pulls his finger away, a single drop of blood is welling its way from the wound. His brow furrows because, even an arms’ length away, he almost swears he _smells it_ , smells it and it smells warm and metallic and-  
  
Kihyun pauses, frowns, tries to find the word. When he does, it horrifies him.  
  
_Sweet_.  
  
Kihyun scrambles up, sitting with his legs folded beneath him, staring intensely at his finger now, watching the way the blood wells up, beads, becomes heavy, and slowly starts to streak down his skin. Kihyun breathes shakily through his mouth, too afraid of catching that essence of sweetness and feels a near magnetic sensation pulling his finger toward him, toward his mouth. It isn’t until he feels wetness on his lips that he snaps from whatever spell he is somehow under, sputtering, wiping the red from his lips with the sleeve of his sweatshirt. He breathes out heavily, eyes wide, mind screaming, demanding to know _what the fuck was that?  
  
_Kihyun doesn’t know. He prefers to put it down as some kind of morbid curiosity and not some irresistible pull that had somehow temporarily shut down all common sense.  
  
Quickly he’s on his feet, making his way to his bathroom. Once there he pulls a bandage from his medicine cabinet, covers the cut again. He closes the medicine cabinet, stares into the mirror on its door for a moment, before he opens it again, opts to secure another bandage over the first. With that, the soft sweet smell is gone, though the emotional havoc it’s wrecked on Kihyun has just begun. He stares at himself in the mirror, studies his face, the face that’s always been the same, been his, desperately looking for something, _anything_ different. He finds nothing. He is himself. And somehow that is more terrifying than peering into the mirror and finding a monster.  
  
It must be a side-effect of Hoseok healing him, the small bouts of vampiric tendencies and characteristics. He remembers back almost a week ago now, the day after he had met Hoseok and first been healed, how when his eyes had teared in the sun, they had teared blood. Thinking back, the memory makes him shudder, feel a bit sick to his stomach.  
  
He’ll have to ask Hoseok the next time he sees him, which, from the man’s cheerful good-bye, he realizes to be tomorrow. ...Or today, given how late it is. Later today. Kihyun laughs at himself a bit, teasing himself under his breath that he needs to sleep more, needs a real sleep schedule.  
  
As he crosses the threshold between his bathroom and his living room and suddenly freezes, struck by the fact something isn’t right.  
  
_Vampire_.  
  
He isn’t sure _how_ he knows that’s what he’s sensing, but he knows, beyond a shadow of a doubt, there is a vampire nearby. Kihyun stands still, glances towards his front door, can almost sense someone- no, _something_ just on the other side. He slowly walks over to his bag, withdraws his Insta-Stake, a small, easily extendable metal stake that has come to become as popular as other self-protection methods like mace. He presses the button at its end and the lock in it releases, the stake sliding to twice its normal size.  
  
Hoseok, it could be Hoseok. Though this particular vampire… does not feel like him. He doesn’t know how he knows what Hoseok feels like, but the vampire he knows seems to give off a warm, familiar buzz of energy. Even Changkyun has a kind of lightness to him, a fresh energy that reminds him of the sun on a gloomy day. What he feels now is cold, chaotic, somehow reminds him of a furious hive of bees. Goosebumps ignite on his skin and he involuntarily shivers.  
  
Kihyun withdraws his phone, sends off a few quick texts:

  
**Kihyun  
  
**Hoseok.  
  
Do you… know where I live?

  
This is weird and I can’t explain how, but I can sense there’s a vampire nearby.

  
Here.

  
Please tell me it’s you.

  
Please.

Silence. No reply. Kihyun finds himself getting jittery, holds the stake at his side as he slowly walks toward his front door. He crouches, puts his ear to the wood of the front door and hears...voices?  
  
“I can smell him,” a man’s voice says, a kind of growl behind the words, unavoidable darkness that sends a shiver up Kihyun’s spine. The speaker is the one with the aura like swarming bees, like turmoil, like utter chaos. Kihyun instinctively feels fear, wants to shrink away from the door, disappear into his apartment, but if he moves, he won’t be able to hear them speaking.  
  
“Barely,” the second says and while his aura is dark as well, it doesn’t terrify Kihyun nearly as much as the first vampire. He also sounds a bit… bored.  
  
At that moment, Hoseok texts back.

**[3 Message(s) - Hoseok :K]**

**Hoseok :K**

It isn’t me.  
  
Do not open the door.  
  
Send me your address.

  
  
Kihyun does as he’s told, quickly sending a pin before turning his attention back to the hallway.  
  
“It’s weird. If he had been here and left, his scent should already be fading. But it isn’t,” the first man replies, sounds irritated. Then another pause and Kihyun can hear shifting, can hear the vampire moving closer to the door.  
  
“...I can also smell a _human_.”he hisses and the implication leaves Kihyun feeling lightheaded. He stumbles backward, hitting the hardwood floor butt-first, and pushes himself back a few feet. The only thing between him and two (or more) potentially thirsty vampires are the rather cheap deadbolts on his front door.  
  
“...But the human also smells like _him_ ,” the first vampire says and Kihyun can almost hear a kind of twisted grin on his lips, hears amusement.  
  
“Do you think he claimed him?”the other asks curiously.  
  
A pause.  
  
“Maybe we should ask.”  
  
There’s another moment before there are three slow knocks on his door, each knock causing Kihyun’s heart to skip a beat. As the doorknob begins to turn (locked of course), he grabs for his phone, types out another panicked message to Hoseok.

**Kihyun  
  
**It’s trying to get in.

“Little human, I know you’re in there. I can hear your heartbeat,” the vampire says, tone mocking, almost sing-song. Kihyun can feel himself shaking, can feel his heart beating so hard it threatens to rip itself from his chest.  
  
Kihyun, of course, doesn’t respond, but clenches his hand even more tightly around the stake in his hand. He feels a drop of sweat roll down his forehead, breathes shakily, and suddenly the vampire outside is laughing.  
  
“Not going to respond? That’s just as fine. We’re… friends of Hoseok,” he drawls easily, but every word he says sends a cold shiver down Kihyun’s spine, “We were in the neighborhood and we could smell him, fancy that.”  
  
This confuses Kihyun the most. Hoseok has never been to his apartment, now only knows where it is because of the pin he just dropped just moment ago. There is no way Hoseok’s scent could be here… unless-  
  
Unless the scent is coming from him.  
  
It’s almost as if the vampire behind the door can sense his train of thought. He laughs softly, though there’s no joy to it. He sounds pleased with the realization Kihyun has reached.  
  
“Did he claim you then?” he asks and it’s clear he’s moved closer to the door because his voice has gotten a little louder. If Kihyun closes his eyes (and he only dares to for a moment), he can imagine the man leaning against it conversationally, casually, casting glances at the door itself each time he speaks.  
  
Kihyun sits up a little, rearranges himself so he’s kneeling, eyes narrowed. He does not venture closer to the door.  
  
“...Claimed me?” he asks and hates himself for it. He should be locking himself in his bedroom and waiting for Hoseok to show up, but the prospect of knowing more about all of this, vampires, and by extension _Hoseok,_ is something he can’t turn down. The only reason he hasn’t fled yet is the Ward Rule, one of many superstitions found to be true when vampires were finally revealed to the general public: they cannot enter a home without being invited. Kihyun doesn’t know the science -- or magic, rather -- behind it, just knows it to be true. And in this instance, he’s banking on it as potentially being the only thing keeping him alive.  
  
“I don’t know what that means,” he finally finishes, pausing before he slowly gets to his feet, shaking numbness from his legs, wincing at a bruise he can feel taking root on his tailbone. He stares down the door, swallows heavily.  
  
Another laugh, but this time the other vampire joins in.  
  
“So he hasn’t bitten you yet,” he says and Kihyun can _hear_ the smirk in his words. Again, he shivers, shivers at the images they draw up, images of Hoseok’s soft lips on his neck, teasing needle-like fangs across the delicate skin of his throat. His heart skips another beat.  
  
“Typical Hoseok,” the second vampire sighs, Kihyun can almost sense him rolling his eyes, “What a bleeding heart.”  
  
A pause then suddenly both break down into laughter again.  
  
Kihyun takes a step toward the door, isn’t sure what possesses him to, and stops. These vampires call Hoseok a friend, but the way they speak says otherwise. He eyes the spy-hole worked into the panel of the door, wonders if he’ll be able to see them should he look through it. He doesn’t expect - or hopes at least- they’ll stick around until the other vampire shows up and he doesn’t want to be completely empty handed.  
  
“He’ll be here soon,” Kihyun says shakily, takes another step forward, is now a couple of feet from the door. He mentally curses at the shake in his voice, wishes he could sound more assured, more stable. In all technicality, he is safe within the wards of his home and Hoseok will be here any moment, but his instincts are screaming at him, screaming no amount of safety is safe enough in the face of monsters.  
  
That causes silence in the hallway. He hears shifting, the vampire by the door moving away from it a bit.  
  
“...Gun, we probably shouldn't be here when he shows up,” the second vampire says quietly and the first -Gun- makes a disgusted sound under his breath. So no. Definitely not friends.  
  
Finally Kihyun makes it to the peephole in the door, holding his breath as he approaches and peers through. He squints his eye when he isn’t immediately met with a view of the hallway outside, just darkness, and and then the darkness leans back. Staring back at him is another eye, pupil dilated, iris blood red and Kihyun’s voice catches in his throat, staggering backwards, catching himself on his nearby dining room table. The stake in his hand leaves his fingers, goes skittering under the couch and it takes everything for Kihyun to not collapse. Laughter wells from beyond the door and Kihyun’s knees go weak, fingers fighting for hold as his grip on the table is the last thing keeping him grounded in reality. More laughing outside.  
  
And then the sound of scraping, like knives at the front of Kihyun’s door and Kihyun’s blood runs cold. Are they trying to break their way in now? Are they-  
  
“The wards won’t let you in!” he raises his voice to say but it sounds hoarse, shaky, and he finds himself wishing he never tried to speak in the first place. Outside Gun and the other vampire laugh.  
  
“We’re just leaving a message for our Seokkie-Hyung, don’t worry,” Gun says, words smooth as silk, deep as velvet. A few more scratches at the door and he seems to be finished, purring under his breath in apparent satisfaction. He taps what sounds like a knife to the door, but based on the rapid pattern it sounds like he somehow has more than one.  
  
“We’re going to take off before our big brother gets here, but be sure to give him our love,” Gun says and Kihyun can hear him drag the blades away from the wood as he speaks. Kihyun doesn’t move from where he stands.  
  
“I don’t even know who to tell him sends regards,” he says slowly, wishes they would just hurry up and leave. He doesn’t even know what the vampire beyond the door looks like, but he can imagine him smiling: a shadowed, featureless face with a large grin, gleaming with fangs.  
  
“He’ll know,” he says airly, that sing-song tone back and Kihyun hears a sound he assumed to be him patting the other vampire on the back, followed by a quieter, “Let’s get out of here. Sunrise is soon.”  
  
Kihyun can hear their footsteps begin to recede, but more than that, their auras - their energies- follow in their wakes. It isn’t until they’re close to indistinguishable, mere background noise in the din of the city, that Kihyun takes a deep, stuttering breath, feeling as if he hasn’t breathed in the entire confrontation. His knees shake and for a moment he humors the idea of just collapsing where he stands but decides against it. His eyes are on the door and he can sense the natural wards of the house are calm now, yet another thing that, just a week ago, he had no sense of it at all.  
  
Before he even realizes what he’s doing, Kihyun creeps forward, one slow footstep at a the time. He undoes the deadbolts, slides the chain away, and freezes with his hand on the doorknob. He knows no one stands behind, but there’s that very human side of him that _wonders_.  
  
That thought alone is enough to spark a small crisis. He _is_ human. Every part of him is human. No matter what sudden… quirks he may suddenly have, he is not like Hoseok nor his coven nor the vampires that were just at his door. He is still living, breathing, still very much one with his humanity.  
  
Just different.  
  
And he can’t explain how, or why.  
  
He just knows something within him has changed. Hoseok has changed him somehow.  
  
Finally he wrenches the front door open, peering into the hall, eyes scanning both left and right. The area feels imbued with the same chaotic energy he had been able to sense before, the last remnants of the vampires that had been standing there.  
  
Then his eyes find the dark paneling of his front door and fear buzzes up once more from his gut, cold numbness swallowing him whole. In the paneling, scratched with what Kihyun now realizes were not knives but _claws_ are gouges that spell a message to Hoseok.  
  
Just three words:

_We Are Here._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for such a short chapter! I thought it had more impact this way!  
> The next chapter will have a ton of Kiho moments and you'll learn a lot more about Hoseok and the coven!
> 
> Please come hang out with me on [ my Twitter](https://twitter.com/neonnightlites)! <3  
> I post spoilers and WIPS and just generally sob about MX ;; <3
> 
> Feedback, as always, is appreciated/makes me cry happy tears ; w ;  
> Thank you all for showing Nights Like These so much love! 200+ kudos! I never expected that!!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unedited. I'll come back and fix it tomorrow~  
> Sorry for any mistakes!
> 
> There is a LOT of backstory in this chapter, but also a cute Kiho~  
> Enjoy!

“You seem a little less… intense,” Changkyun ventures from behind Hoseok as the elevator doors close behind them and the lift begins to rise. Hoseok’s hand is still clenched into a fist at his side and he casts the maknae a _look_.  
  
“Kihyun sent another text. Said they were gone,” he explains simply, gives no further details, watches the way the digital numbers slide by in the upper corner as the elevator raises, “But that doesn’t mean we should let our guards down,” a pause, he amends, “doesn’t mean I should let _my_ guard down.”  
  
Finally they reach the fifth floor.  
  
“It’s time for you to go back home,” Hoseok says, rounding on Minhyuk and Changkyun as the elevator doors open on Kihyun’s floor, eyes serious, lips set into a frown. Despite his words, Changkyun edges past him.  
  
“Which one did he say it was?” he asks conversationally as he pursues past the doors, thumbs stuck in the back pocket of his jeans, “0514?”  
  
Hoseok sighs, casts a pleading look at Minhyuk, though the other vampire shrugs, following after the youngest with a skip in his step, eyes scanning door numbers as he lags in Changkyun’s wake.  
  
Hoseok steps from the elevator and pauses, closes his eyes and tries to will away the headache that flames behind his eyes. Minhyuk chewing his ear off over his poor decision on the way over had been unnecessary. He’s still incredibly thirsty, a couple of mouthfuls absolutely nothing in the face of how thirsty he had been at the beginning of the night. It had taken the edge off, sure - made him a little less likely to snap and maul the nearest warm body - but it had left him with the oddest hungover feeling. Truth-be-told, he hadn’t even been hungover in centuries, so he wasn’t even sure how he was still able to conjure that feeling to memory. Something deep in his memory told him it was accurate, however. He just wanted to curl away from the overhead lights, close his eyes, will himself somewhere quiet. But he knows he can’t.  
  
Kihyun’s text had done nothing to quell his panic. That panic is only making his instincts sharper, forcing him to fight his nature even more and it’s draining.  
  
“0508, 0510,” he hears Changkyun counting aloud as he walks down the hall, fights the urge to tell him to shut up, “0512, 0514- _hyung_!”  
  
The man’s voice goes serious so quickly that Hoseok’s head snaps up, legs moving without him prompting them to, crossing the hall in what feels like two steps. By the time he reaches the door, both Changkyun and Minhyuk are standing before it wordlessly, eyes wide, panicked gazes panning to him for answers.  
  
Words are carved into the dark cherry wood of the door of apartment 0514.  
  
_We Are Here_.  
  
The words seem to swirl around Hoseok, knock the nonexistent breath from his lungs. He crouches down, inches forward, pulls himself close to the words and once he sees them close, the implications of their creation leave him feeling numb. The letters are hasty, poorly formed, hacked into the wood in what Hoseok can tell is anger, a passing lashing gesture. A message.  
  
A threat.  
  
It only takes a moment for him to realize what made the marks. His hand reaches out slowly, fingers contorting for a moment as he wills his nails to grow, extending an additional inch to gleam like claws. He hesitates, sets one nail to the gouge, finds it fits perfectly.  
  
The scent at the doorway alone could have told him what he already expected, however.  
  
Hoseok crouches there for a moment, runs his nail down the arch of the ‘A’, shivers at the scent the wood releases in its wake, closes his eyes against proof of someone he had hoped -fruitlessly- he would never have to face again.  
  
“...It’s him, isn’t it?” Minhyuk asks in a small voice, watches Hoseok with a reserved gaze that, to those who don’t know him well, might seem out of character. Hoseok sighs, nods, wets his lips in thought before he stands again. He wills his nails back to their normal length, winces at the way his muscles contract when he does.  
  
“Yeah,” he admits quietly, meeting Minhyuk’s eyes, finding himself unable to look at Changkyun. The revelation of this culprit will hit him the hardest of the three of them and part of him hopes that Changkyun’s young age will dull his nose, keep him from recognizing the lingering vampiric scent.  
  
He realizes that’s far from true when he finally looks at the youngest, sees the haunted look in his eyes, gaze not moving from the message on the door.  
  
“Changkyun-”  
  
“I thought he was gone,” the man breathes, looking more like a boy in that moment, looking _young_ , looking lost. His eyes finally flicker to Hoseok, look pleading, “He was banished-”  
  
“He didn’t decide to stay that way,” Hoseok sighs, the words sounding apologetic. He reaches out to the fledgling and Changkyun leans into his arm, momentarily noses to the comfort of Hoseok’s neck before he shakes his head, moves away. Hoseok watches him square his shoulders, steel his eyes as if disallowing himself to feel the emotions that are currently ripping at him, threatening to tear him to shreds.  
  
“Why here? Why Seoul?” Minhyuk asks in a small voice and, while it’s clear he doesn’t feel the pain as deeply as Changkyun, it still claws at him, makes it hard to speak.  
  
Hoseok’s eyes are on the door again, eyeing the ‘We’, wondering who he means is with him.  
  
“I don’t know,” he admits, hates having to. Being one of the eldest in the coven comes with a lot of weight. While he prefers to see the younger members as his brothers, his equals, he knows he often finds himself falling into the role of a parent, a leader.  
  
Silence engulfs them again, thick with uncertainty.  
  
“It’s him without a doubt, right?” Changkyun finally asks, asks it in a way like he knows the truth but is praying he’s wrong,” ...It’s Gunhee.”  
  
The name plays off of Changkyun’s tongue cautiously and Hoseok would have to be deaf to miss the fear there.  
  
He would a have to be even more deaf to miss the hope.  
  
Nearly six months have passed, nearly the entire length of Changkyun’s vampirism, since Gunhee’s banishment from their Coven. A vampire of fifteen years, Jooheon’s first sire, he had been an integral part of their family, as much a brother as Minhyuk and Changkyun now are.  
  
Until fate had twisted and things had gone wrong.  
  
Their coven - labeled Coven X by the High Council - has always had strict rules, mandates that set them apart - alienate them, even - from the rest of their world. For Hyunwoo and Hoseok alike, it has always been their staunch belief that just because their nature encourages them to be monsters, that doesn’t mean they _have_ to be. They survive on the life force of others, on blood, but that doesn’t mean they have to kill to live. It’s their one rule: take, but only enough to survive. Survive, but not at the expense of others.  
  
_Do not kill_.  
  
None of them are perfect. There have been accidents, like the first time Minhyuk fed after his change. Hoseok blames himself for it to this day, can see how it still weights on the Minhyuk’s shoulders. Hoseok should have been able to smell sickness on the mark, though he logically knows he had no way of knowing the man was on blood thinners.  
  
So mistakes are made from time to time, few and far between, and it is _intent_ that matters. There is no place for cruelty within their family, no place for killers in their Coven.  
  
And they had never had a problem.  
  
Until Gunhee.  
  
And in retrospect, Hoseok can’t even truly blame him for what he did, wonders if he would have done the same if he had been in the other man’s shoes.  
  
The blood of one of their own is a maddening thing. It has only been spilled a couple of times in the coven’s existence, the last time a mere seven months ago. There is a reason they’re so careful about wards and traps and patrols, a reason why they hunt in groups of twos and threes. People call them monsters, see their abilities and fail to realize those strengths come with deadly weaknesses.  
  
Six months ago they had lost one of their own, a member of their coven for ten years. He had been a vampire of only 3 years, covenless when they had found him. No Yoonho. He’d been young, scared, come to them with a story of the death of his own coven at the hands of hunters and Hyunwoo had been quick to allow him a place in their home. He had acclimated well and within weeks, it was as if he had always been there, always been a member of their family. And that was how things were for nearly 10 years until history, tragically, repeated itself and it had been Gunhee of all people who had found his brother staked to death, laid like a threat on the welcome mat of their front door.  
  
What had been going on between Yoonho and Gunhee, Hoseok couldn’t even begin to guess. He had always assumed the same close camaraderie and brotherhood they all felt for one another, but that had all changed when Hoseok witnessed the changes in Gunhee following Yoonho’s death. It left him wondering if they hadn’t been… a little bit more. A little closer.  
  
Gunhee had begun disappearing each night, leaving the exact moment the sun set and returning just seconds before dawn night after night after night.  
  
Then the news began reporting spikes in vampire related deaths in their section of the city and the Council had come beating down their door, breathing heavily down Hyunwoo’s neck and demanding answers. Hyunwoo had pulled them all aside, Gunhee included, and had been blunt, asked if any of the members had been behind the attacks, the deaths. All had said no and Hyunwoo, sometimes blind in his trust toward his coven, had sent the Council away, swearing it was no one in his house committing such atrocities.  
  
Until Hoseok had caught Gunhee red-handed.  
  
Hoseok, while as affectionate toward his coven as Hyunwoo, does not have that blind trust, has very little trust towards anyone and anything all. That thinking had led him to begin trailing Gunhee, watching from distant perches as most nights he just stalked the empty streets, occasionally drank but never killed.  
  
Until he did.  
  
Hoseok couldn’t have been sure then what was so different about Gunhee’s victim that night, but he watched him literally rip a woman limb from limb, intervening only once it was too late. Standing amongst the gore, painted with the dead woman’s blood, he’d merely stared at Hoseok, said words that still haunt Hoseok to this day:  
  
“She deserved it.”  
  
Hoseok learned quickly after the woman was a hunter. And then it all made sense. Hunters had killed Yoonho, Gunhee had made it his mission to get revenge, regardless of the mandates of their coven, regardless of the impact it would have on his soul.  
  
The main reason their coven abstained from killing was simple: over time, repeated kills did something to the mind of a vampire. It made the mortal, human side weaker and the darkness, the beast they all had, even stronger. Eventually the balance tipped, leaving a illogical killing machine that sought one thing and one thing only: death. Killing was an addiction that lay dormant in them all.  
  
From the look in his eyes that night, Hoseok could already see the change taking place in Gunhee, the presence of the monster that lurked in all of their minds lashing more and more to the surface. He was still Gunhee, but there were glimpses of moments where Hoseok saw more monster and less of his brother.  
  
Hoseok had had no choice. He had to report Gunhee to Hyunwoo, and Hyunwoo had been summoned by the High Council.  
  
Gunhee had been banished. Immediately cut off, cast into the cold. While the guilt ate at Hoseok, it was the way of their Coven, the way of their Kind, was the punishment everyone knew they would receive if they broke the mandates. But it had been Hoseok himself that had passed the final judgment, had been Hoseok who had cast him out, severed the Coven’s tie to him. And it had hurt all of them, physically: severing magic that powerful caused backlash and Hoseok has felt unbearable pain (both physical and mental) for weeks afterwards. Cutting off a member of a Coven is akin to cutting off a limb: sometimes necessary, but always agonizing.  
  
To know Gunhee is back just stirs up old pain and Hoseok breathes in shakily, hand going to a powerful ache that ripples his heart.  
  
It’s Changkyun he worries about most. Gunhee was his sire, the one that decided to Turn him when his health got too bad and it became clear that Changkyun would either die of his cancer, or die to live another life. Though it had technically been a group decision: they had all chosen for him to join them, unable to watch the human boy they’d become so fond of suffer and fade away. Turning him had been between Jooheon and Gunhee, the two closest to him. Jooheon, who had sired Gunhee, thought it was time he had a fledgling of his own.  
  
It was only shortly after Changkyun had opened his eyes again, irises red, life changed forever, that the truth about what Gunhee had been doing started coming into the open. And in being banished, he had left an orphaned fledgling. It had made sense for Jooheon, his grandsire, to take the young vampire under his wing… were it not for what was quickly discovered next.  
  
Jooheon had known. Jooheon had known Gunhee had been killing, known and covered it up. And while they had debated Jooheon’s fate, his punishment had been nowhere near as drastic as Gunhee. While in all technicality Jooheon had blood on his hands, he did not literally and therein was the great distinction.  
  
Probation.  
  
Hoseok took over training Gunhee’s fledgling, but the betrayals had left all of their friendships in tatters, even six months later. Sometimes he sees the sadness in Jooheon’s eyes when he sees how Changkyun fawns over Hoseok like his true sire. Covens are one things, but literal vampiric blood ties are another. Hoseok can’t help but wonder what he would have done in Jooheon’s circumstance: would he have hidden the sins of the man he had loved and Turned, or would he have betrayed him for his own good? Hoseok has never been able to come up with an answer and for that, he finds himself unable to truly judge Jooheon.  
  
“It’s time for you to go home,” Hoseok says again, not looking at the two. He runs a hand anxiously through his hair, “I’m gonna stick around for a-”  
  
Before Hoseok can finish, the door - 0514 - swings open, drowning the dim hall in bright light. Kihyun stands there, arms folded over his chest, head tilted just slightly to the side.  
  
“Are you going to stand out here and talk all night,” he asks and Hoseok likes to think he hears the tiniest tinge of humor in the words, but he might just be hoping too much.  
  
“The others were just-”  
  
“ _Woah,”_ Minhyuk says suddenly, taking a small step closer, wincing a bit at the warmth that radiates from the invisible ward at the doorway. His eyes are on Kihyun for a moment, scrutinizing him, before they’re suddenly on Hoseok.  
  
“ _Hyung_ , he _reeks_ of you.”  
  
Hoseok blinks, looks at Kihyun and leans in a little, scents the air, smells nothing. Then again, he wouldn’t be able to catch his own scent. But he does find Kihyun’s own is oddly… muted.  
  
“Did you claim him?” Changkyun asks and when he does, there’s something in his tone that suggests scandal. This causes Kihyun’s eyes to grow wide.  
  
“Why is that all anyone’s talking about tonight?” he demands and the other three look surprised.  
  
“Wait, there was more than one vampire here?”  
  
“Yeah,” Kihyun responds, leans against the doorframe. It’s only them Hoseok notices he’s holding a small metal stake and a shiver works its way up his spine, “Some guy named Gunhee and one other vampire. Didn’t get his name.”  
  
Another shiver.  
  
“And they thought I’d claimed you because-”  
  
“Because I apparently smell like you. They initially thought you were _here_.”  
  
None of this makes sense to Hoseok. The only way to scent a human like a vampire is through claiming, a ritual usually saved for vampires who take monogamous feeders. It is a way of affording them safety and identity in the world of vampires, a place otherwise deadly for mere mortals. Hoseok has done no such thing, as the act of claiming involves a small ritual, the ceremonial trading of blood. His fangs have never as much as gotten close to Kihyun and Kihyun has certainly never bitten him back.  
  
“So what is claiming?”Kihyun asks again and Hoseok sighs, looking at the others.  
  
“Now it _really_ is time to go. Sun-up is soon. You need to get home and report all of this to to Hyunwoo,” he orders quietly, looking between the two that just nod. Minhyuk takes a step back, bows his head a little respectfully to Hoseok and, oddly enough, Kihyun, and casts Changkyun a look. However, the youngest is still staring at Kihyun, watching him with eyes like he can somehow see through his soul. A second later he seems to be shocked from his thoughts, looks away, nods to Hoseok.  
  
“...Get home soon,” he says quietly to his mentor, the faintest traces of worry clinging to his words as he and Minhyuk turn, begin watching them walk up the hall. Hoseok and Kihyun watch them board the elevator and Hoseok even waves as the doors close and they disappear from view.  
  
Silence descends them, suffocating. Both of them make obvious efforts to avoid the words carved into the door. Hoseok looks at Kihyun and Kihyun watches back before he sighs, minimizing the stake back to travel size and stepping away from the door. Hoseok merely stands there, watching, knowing Kihyun cannot sense the still-raised ward, the way is burns at him like flames even if he keeps his distance.  
  
Then it seems to occur to Kihyun and he smiles a bit and it’s tired.  
  
“You can come in,” he welcomes and it’s as if the ward bursts, searing heat replaced with blistering cold before it evens out to room temperature. Hoseok takes a tentative step forward and enters Kihyun’s small apartment. It’s immaculate: everything in its place, perfectly organized, perfectly… Kihyun. He hears Kihyun close the door behind him and the silence falls again, this time a bit awkward.  
  
“I’m sorry,” Hoseok finally manages to stammer, turning to face Kihyun, biting at his lower lip, “...I never expected you to be put in danger.”  
  
However, this isn’t necessarily true. Hoseok has always known associating with Kihyun might mean danger for the man, but he always knew by being careful, he could avoid it. This was something different, something he couldn’t avoid no matter how many endless precautions he tried to take. This wasn’t a mistake, they weren’t seen by the wrong person together or in the wrong place. It was something else. Scent. His scent. On Kihyun. And it made no sense.  
  
“They didn’t hurt me,” Kihyun reassures him, but his voice shakes, as if he barely believes it, “...In fact, they seemed too scared of you to hurt me.”  
  
“Of me?” Hoseok asks, seems a little surprised, then frowns. No, it makes sense. After everything he did to Gunhee, after banishing him, he must seem quite the monster.  
  
“Still, I didn’t anticipate that this could happen,” Hoseok apologizes again. He takes a step towards Kihyun and Kihyun takes one away. Hoseok’s heart sinks and his eyes find the floor.  
  
“...I understand if seeing more of my kind has… changed how you feel about me,” he manages, though he doesn’t truly understand at all. It hurts for Kihyun to step away, even if there’s a bit of logic that says he probably should.  
  
“Explain this claiming thing.”  
  
Hoseok sighs, closes his eyes for a moment.  
  
“I didn’t claim you, that’s not what this is,” he reassures, though Kihyun seems to brush that off.  
  
“I know that. I just know it’s what usually causes… this. The scent,” Kihyun amends and leads himself over to his nearby couch, lowering himself onto it. He tosses his Stake away onto the coffee table nearby, no longer in arm’s reach. It speaks more to Hoseok that any other action could.  
  
Hoseok doesn’t invite himself to sit, merely stands nearby, arms crossed over his chest. Kihyun seems to notice this and motions for Hoseok to sit, so the man sits at the opposite end, leaving space - as always - between them.  
  
“It’s an old ritual,” Hoseok rubs at the back of his neck uncomfortably, “It’s not really something used as much anymore. But essentially, it’s a way of… providing protection to certain humans.”  
  
“That’s… extremely vague,” Kihyun comments dryly and Hoseok swears he feels himself flush.  
  
He doesn’t know how much information he wants to give Kihyun, feels fear at the prospect of telling him too much when it’s clear he’s already in danger. Knowing the inner workings of this kind could only put a mark on his head in the end, but Kihyun is watching him with serious, albeit curious, eyes.  
  
“I want to know,” he adds, belaying any further arguments Hoseok was beginning to cook up against telling Kihyun anything else. Kihyun shifts, moves a little closer, and Hoseok blinks in surprise.  
  
“...Some vampires take… feeders. Monogamous feeders. And only feed from them,” Hoseok begins, carefully, weightily, “Usually there are feelings behind these… arrangements. Lovers,” Kihyun nods as Hoseok speaks but looks a little embarrassed.  
  
“So they thought we were-” he starts and Hoseok laughs awkwardly.  
  
“Yeah, yeah they did. Because of the scent. When a vampire claims a human, they take on that vampire's scent. Think of it as a… protective method. It tells all other vampires you’re off limits for feeding and to be respected. It’s as close to being a vampire in the eyes of our kind without truly being one.”  
  
“So like a consort,” Kihyun supplies and Hoseok chokes, tries to find his breath despite the fact he _doesn’t need to breathe.  
  
_“Y-Yeah,” he sputters, trying to maintain composure, “I guess.”  
  
Kihyun is smiling now, smiling in that way that it causes his eyes to crinkle. He’s teasing and there’s something about that that makes Hoseok feel so incredibly at ease.  
  
“So that’s why they thought the scent meant you had claimed me,” Kihyun says and Hoseok nods, but that just brings him back to more and more questions. _Why_ did Kihyun have his scent? How?  
  
“...Do you mind if I-” Hoseok motions between the sofa between them, clearly asking to move closer. Kihyun nods and Hoseok leans in, tries to keep a little distance between them, but finds himself much closer to Kihyun than intended when he has to ‘chase’ his scent. He realizes after a moment his nose and lips are just a mere inch from Kihyun’s neck and the man has frozen, is holding his breath, heart nearly beating out of his chest. Hoseok closes his eyes, smells the faintest whiffs of Kihyun, a little fear, and beneath his skin: raging blood. He can imagine what he cannot smell is his own scent.  
  
He leans away shakily, the scent of blood making if most difficult to pull away.  
  
“What if it was the healing,” Kihyun finally asks quietly, looking down at Hoseok with unreadable eyes. He’s clearly nervous, an instinctive response, but there’s something darker there that Hoseok cannot begin to fathom.  
  
And Kihyun… has a point. Healing is just energy transfer and while in the past, there had been no issues, it was because in the past he had only other healed other vampires. Vampires themselves had such intense scents that a secondary one would have fallen away unnoticed. Kihyun is his first human he’s ever attempted to heal and it _makes sense_ , makes sense that Vampiric energy that entered his body, healed him, would leave him with small Vampiric tendencies.  
  
“Has there been anything else? Any other changes?” he asks, is still close to Kihyun but makes no move to shift away. Something feels comfortable about being in his presence, even if he is still fighting the demon called thirst that’s baying in the back of his mind.  
  
Kihyun falls silent, looks ashamed, looks embarrassed, and Hoseok surprised them both when he reaches out and takes his hand. Kihyun shivers a little at the chill of Hoseok’s skin, but when Hoseok moves to pull away, Kihyun just interlaces their fingers together more intensely.  
  
He seems to be fighting with something, seems to be afraid to speak, so Hoseok squeezes his hand.  
  
“I’m here to help. Or try to. Please.”  
  
Kihyun takes a moment to look out the window nearby. The curtains are open and despite the dim lights inside his apartment, he can still catch glimpses of the world outside. It must be approaching 5:30. Soon the sun will come. Soon the world will begin to stir. The waking world, at least.  
  
“When I changed my bandage earlier,” he begins saying quietly, looks at Hoseok and finds his undivided attention, flushes at that, “I accidentally tugged at the wound. It bled.”  
  
Hoseok has to actively keep his face expressionless at the mention of blood.  
  
“...And when I smelled it… it didn’t smell like what I’m used to blood smelling like,” Kihyun admits, frowns.  
  
“What did it smell like?” Hoseok prompts quietly.  
  
Kihyun doesn’t want to answer the next question, Hoseok can see that on his face. He’s mentally fighting himself with the words, trying to build up the courage to say them.  
  
“Earthy. Still a little metallic, but…” Kihyun shakes his head, laughs like he thinks he’s crazy. He meets Hoseok’s eyes dead eyes before he continues, “Sweet.”  
  
Hoseok leans back at that, eyes growing wide. Their hands fall apart. The sweetness, that’s something he can relate to, but simply because he’s a vampire, which Kihyun, clearly, is not.  
  
Kihyun isn’t done.  
  
“I… I was about to try it. I _wanted_ to. It smelled… it smelled… irresistible,” he admits and puts his head in his hands, as if in shame. Hoseok moves then, moves from the couch to crouch on the floor before Kihyun, gently pulls his hands away so he can meet his eyes. He holds each hand gently in one of his own, frowns, feels guilt rise from his gut and threaten to suffocate him.  
  
“I am so sorry,” he says quietly, “You’ve done nothing wrong. Being curious. But you were curious because of me. I should have… I should have done research before I healed you. I shouldn’t have been so hasty. I just-” _couldn’t bare to see you hurt_.  
  
The words die from his tongue, cowardice making them impossible to explain. He still is yet to explain to Kihyun why he feels so deeply for him, why there’s such a strong piece of him that wants nothing to protect him, be close to him, _be with him_. And that last thought leaves him horrified, because he knows, on some level, he’s super-imposing someone long dead onto a man who is very much alive. Hoseok’s hands begin to fall away from Kihyun’s, but Kihyun catches them, works their fingers together again.  
  
“It wasn’t your fault,” Kihyun says, sounds so certain, “You had no idea what would happen. You just wanted to help.”  
  
Hoseok can’t help but stare at Kihyun then, at the way his lips form a smile, the way his dark bangs flop into his eyes that still remind Hoseok of sunlight. His hands are warm against his cold skin and there’s something about the moment where any pain he feels from bloodlust fades to the back of his mind like static, impossibly soothed. In this moment, what he’s feeling isn’t what he’s felt when he’s seen Kihyun before; the possible reincarnation of someone he lost. Suddenly he just sees _Kihyun,_ just Kihyun. The man who runs himself ragged between his job and masters program. The man who’s neat and concise and incredibly warm.  
  
The man who doesn’t seem to see Hoseok as the monster he sees himself.  
  
Slowly he moves one hand from Kihyun’s grasp, meets his eyes for silent permission, and then his fingers are skirting the plane of Kihyun’s cheek. The man shivers at the sudden cold, but immediately leans into it, eyes never leaving Hoseok. He doesn’t look afraid or disgusted or-  
  
Hoseok leans up, brings their lips together in that moment, doesn’t give himself time to think any longer, doesn’t give him any time to dwell. Kihyun makes a small sound like surprise, but doesn’t pull away, though doesn’t move closer either. They stay like that for a moment before Kihyun’s eyes close and he does lean in, deepening the kiss, bringing his free hand to Hoseok’s hair. Kihyun’s touches almost seem to burn him and a moment later, Hoseok has to pull away, take a staggering breath he doesn’t biologically need, but definitely needs emotionally. When he peers up, Kihyun’s face is flushed, lips glowing red from the force.  
  
They stare at one another for a long moment.  
  
“I didn’t… mean to do that,” Hoseok starts and Kihyun laughs, actually laughs, and it’s music to his ears.  
  
“I’m glad you did,” Kihyun confesses and leans in once more, his own initiative this time, presses his lips against Hoseok’s. It’s quick, chaste, but somehow leaves Hoseok’s mind spinning more than the first. Kihyun leans forward, presses his forehead to Hoseok’s, and meets his eyes.  
  
“You seem so afraid of being what you are around me. That I’ll hate you. But I don’t. I can’t necessarily explain why I don’t, why my instincts aren’t screaming at me, but they don’t. You seem… more human than most people I meet,” he admits quietly and Hoseok closes his eyes, allows himself to feel peace.  
  
For countless years he’s had his coven and very little else. It’s been centuries since he could reach forward, pull someone into his arms, enjoy the feeling of another being (whether human or vampire.) He reaches forward, gently pulls Kihyun down from the couch and to his lap, opens his eyes to meet his gaze again, knows his eyes are perhaps a bit darker this time. But the way he holds Kihyun is delicate, like he’s terrified he’ll break, like the only thing in his mind is the fact that he _could_ , he could so easily cause this man harm no matter how positively he thinks of him. Hoseok noses into his neck, breathes deeply, finds Kihyun’s scent that’s been swallowed by his own and allows himself to drift in it for a moment, of the way of smells like life and light and warmth.  
  
He isn’t able to partake long, though. His ears quickly tune into the thrum of Kihyun’s pulse and he finds himself leaning back, looking apologetic as Kihyun meets him with a questioning expression.  
  
“I still haven’t really fed,” he confesses a bit awkwardly, wishes he could lean again, hold Kihyun a little tighter, but that droning is beginning up in the back of his mind again, that darker self he always keeps at bay.  
  
Kihyun nods immediately but doesn’t move, just watches Hoseok, studies his feature. He reaches up, brushes hair from his eyes.  
  
“If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were human,” he comments quietly before he’s lifting himself from Hoseok’s lap, reaching a hand out to help him up. It’s as Hoseok is reaching for it he’s struck by sudden exhaustion, just a brief flare and then it’s gone.  
  
Sunrise.  
  
Sunrise is approaching and, based on his senses, it’s within minutes. He has no time to make it back to the house. His eyes fall on the window, at the way the faintest sliver of gold is beginning to draw across the distant sky, broken by the skyline.  
  
“...Sunrise,” Kihyun says, sounds a little horrified, glances around his small apartment. Then he has Hoseok’s hand in his, is pulling him after him, pulling him to a door off of the living room. When he pushes it open, it reveals a small bedroom and Kihyun continues, reaches another door, and pulls it open to reveal a neatly organized closet. It’s small, has enough space to be classified as a ‘walk-in’.  
  
“Will this be okay?” Kihyun asks, looking concerned and Hoseok feels a bit embarrassed. He can’t remember the last time he got stuck away from home with the sun coming up. He simply nods and Kihyun herds him inside, clicks on the overhead light. Hoseok peers around at the near racks of clothes as Kihyun pulls blankets and spare pillows from a shelf above the hanging clothes, pauses and looks at Hoseok.  
  
“...I don’t sleep in a coffin if that’s what you’re thinking. Linens are fine,” Hoseok says, half joking, half serious. Kihyun smiles a little at that.  
  
Then Kihyun does something Hoseok doesn’t expect. He sets the comforters and pillows down on the floor and then closes the closet door, closing himself in as well. A moment later he begins busying himself with pulling shirts from hangers, shoving them into the gap below the closet door to keep light from peeking through. The entire time, Hoseok merely stares at him.  
  
“You’re not going to-”  
  
“Honestly, I feel safer in here with you,” Kihyun confesses, doesn’t turn to look at him when he says it, but Hoseok can hear a brief shake to his voice. He gets it. Sure, Kihyun has most recently been haunted by beings of the night, his entire existence has just recently been turned upside down.  
  
Hoseok is about to argue, say closing yourself in a small room with a hungry vampire is _never_ a good idea, but a yawn suddenly stops him, limbs beginning to feel incredibly heavy. The sun has just breached the horizon and his body feels the desire to drop like clockwork.  
  
He reasons maybe a sleeping hungry vampire might not be so bad.  
  
“I gotta-” Hoseok starts to say and starts to collapse, catching himself on one of the shelves. He shakes his head dizzily and smiles sheepishly at Kihyun.  
  
“I told you once before, the sun comes up and I’m out like a light,” he says and Kihyun ‘tuts’ fondly as he watches the vampire lower himself to the ground, propping himself up against the back wall. Kihyun leans forward, fans a blanket out over him in a gesture that seems so fond Hoseok almost feels embarrassed.  
  
“Then sleep,” Kihyun says simply, grabbing his own blanket and pillow and leaning against the door, watching Hoseok sink into the blanket, sigh sleepily, eyes fluttering shut beneath his bangs, “But tonight you tell me everything. You know I still have questions.”  
  
“Everything,” Hoseok echoes sleepily and Kihyun smiles a little, positions his pillow between his head and wall as he watches the vampire drift off. After an eventful all-nighter, it doesn’t take much for his own eyelids to grow heavy and he finds himself drifting off mere minutes after Hoseok.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please come hang out with me on [ my Twitter](https://twitter.com/neonnightlites)! <3  
> I post spoilers and WIPS and just generally sob about MX ;; <3


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